Not Fast Enough
by Arizonna
Summary: Affter a rough break up with Robert Baratheon, Lyanna Stark is left to start over with making friendships at Westeros Prep. But what happens when her enemies become her friends? Oberyn Martell is legendary on the race course and is one of Westeros Prep's most alluring students. What happens when he defies everything he ever stood by and takes a chance at something real?
1. Chapter 1

Lyanna

"Class, welcome back. As I promised before your break, you all have the option to choose new seats if you'd like," Mr. Pycelle announced to his AP Biology students.

Lyanna Stark had never heard sweeter words in her entire life. Being the only sophomore in a class full of juniors and seniors was already hard enough without having to sit next to your ex for an hour every single day.

Hurriedly scanning the room for options, Lyanna quickly stood to show that her, now former, seat at the back corner table in the classroom was available.

She spotted a seat up front next to her brother Ned's friend Howland and, just as she moved to claim it before anyone else could, she felt that all too familiar grip on her arm followed by Robert's booming voice saying, "Lya, what the hell? We always sit together. We both took this class so that we could sit together"

This earned a few judgmental glares from the rest of the girls in the class. Ever since Lyanna Stark who, although stunningly beautiful, was considered one of the freaks at Westeros Prep for her rebellious nature and active participation in the illegal street car races that take place every Wednesday night down on Dragonfire Avenue, publicly broke up with Robert Baratheon, quarterback of the Westeros Knights football team, everyone had been giving her the dirtiest looks they could muster. Maybe she _should_ have waited until after the championship game to break the heart of the "Usurper," but she did what had to be done. It's not like they actually lost so she never really understood why everyone hated her for causing Robert's one bad game.

Slightly flustered but shaking it off Lyanna ignored him and continued on towards that available seat in the front of the room, only to be beat there at the last second by Barbrey Dustin. She took a mental note to add that to the list of reasons why she hated Barbrey. Barbrey doesn't have a single kind bone in her body so the only reason Lyanna could think of why she'd want to sit with Howland is because he's the smartest kid in the class and would probably do all of their partnered work for her.

Lyanna turned around just in time to see pretty much every open seat in the room being taken. She was left with two options: making the walk of shame back to her old seat by Robert or sitting at the table directly next to her old one with Oberyn Martell. Shit.

She didn't really know much about Oberyn except that he was exceptionally attractive and an even better driver than she was. Whenever she had tried to speak with him he would always give her the same seething glare. This was probably because of the kiss that she shared with Rhaegar Targaryen as they performed the traditional dance between the Homecoming King and Queen back in October. Who even knew a sophomore could win those things? Robert was pissed until he realized that she didn't kiss Prince Charming back, she even pushed him away. But what does it even matter when a girl witnesses her boyfriend shoving his tongue down the throat of the girl he'd been checking out for months? It's safe to say that everyone from the Dorne Heights Neighborhood despises Lyanna Stark for "stealing" their prefect Elia's boyfriend. Which isn't even what happened at all.

Ignoring the the icy look from the street car racer commonly known as the "Red Viper," Lyanna took the seat to his left which, although still too close to Robert for her comfort, was a better option than actually being next to Robert and working with him.

After a few seconds of awkwardly sitting there with her pen and paper ready to take notes on cellular respiration, Mr. Pycelle finally saw fit to start class. So of course that was preceded by the all too familiar coughing fits he tends to have about three times an hour. Sitting patiently praying that he just begins the powerpoint, Lyanna Stark was hit by a curveball when it was announced that all the new partner pairings would have to learn as much on the topic of cellular respiration as they could on their own from any outside resources and design a lab for another group to perform by Friday.

Composing her nervousness about actually having to try to get one of the people who seemed to hate her most to work with her on something , Lyanna turned to face Oberyn in time to be greeted by his back as he turned and walked away.

It was beginning to become obvious to Lyanna that signing up for a class to be with your boyfriend rather than to learn was a huge mistake.


	2. Chapter 2

Oberyn

Oberyn turned and walked away just in time to avoid actually having to speak with the girl. It only bought him what? Like thirty seconds? Less. He was back at their table in fifteen with two textbooks for them to actually try and get some reading done.

He held back the slight smirk that was playing at his lips as he watched the relief flush through Lyanna Stark's homewrecking face at the realization that he wasn't abandoning her to work with a new partner. But that's not to say that he didn't consider it. It was her or Robert, and he would drive his beloved Porsche Cayman GTS into the Bay before he ever worked with Robert Baratheon.

Things were going fine as they silently read the chapter on cellular respiration until the Stark girl got a little too comfortable. Oberyn braced himself for the inevitable apology.

"Look. I'm so sorry for what happened between your sister and Rhaegar. I never meant for any of that to happen. I hope that you can look past that and don't judge me before you even learn my side of things," Lyanna nervously stammered

Oberyn deemed it necessary to do one of the breathing exercising he had learned at his court mandated anger management after he'd gotten into a fight with Mr. Yronwood from up the street. Feigning disinterest, Oberyn shifted his concentration from the book to turn and look the girl who ruined his sister's happiness in the eye. He hated that he had to hate Lyanna Stark.

Oberyn cringed ever so slightly as he considered assuring Lyanna that it was completely obvious that the kiss was entirely one sided. Elia would hate him for saying it out loud. And to Lyanna Stark of all people. He shook his head and went for it anyways, "You have no reason to apologize, Stark. I never wanted Rhaegar Targaryen with my sister in the first place. It was obvious that the affections shown that night were not shared. Anyone within a hundred miles could see that you and that animal over there were in love. Which makes me wonder why exactly you broke up with him." Oberyn turned just in time to see Robert looking away after obviously hearing and being slightly hurt by his ex's current conversation.

The girl seemed to be caught completely off guard by the sudden turn in conversation. Her apologetic smile turned into one of the bitchiest expressions that Oberyn had ever seen in his life. "That is entirely unimportant. Let's get back to work," she stated icily before looking down at a diagram of the Krebs Cycle.

"You're gonna have to tell me eventually. That is if you ever want me to get my sister and just about everyone else from Dorne Heights to stop blaming you for what happened," Oberyn casually stated.

"Do you actually think I give a fuck what anyone thinks about me? Because I don't. You can tell everyone that Rhaegar and I fucked for all I care. And that's why I broke up with Robert. Go for it." Lyanna shot back through her teeth. "Asshole."

Oberyn smiled realizing that he'd hit a soft spot with the girl in bringing up whatever happened to her relationship with Westeros Prep's newest bachelor. Although it was slightly strange to know that this girl actually had feelings.

They sat in silence for another minute until the bell rang announcing that it was time for lunch. Oberyn was excited to leave his most boring period of the day but he also found himself feeling some kind of way about separating from the only female driver at Westeros Prep after finally speaking to her for the first time.

Admittedly, he'd been wanting to ever since the September race where she had only lost to him by .396 seconds. But she'd had a boyfriend and for the first time since he'd lost his virginity 5 years ago, Oberyn Martell had afraid to approach a girl. He used her relationship with Robert Baratheon as an excuse but when had he ever cared about whether or not someone was taken? Oberyn was so accustomed to impressing girls by just existing, but he knew that with Lyanna he'd actually have to work. She was completely different from any girl he'd ever been with. He had also thought of her as the type of girl you have a relationship with, not just a hookup. Then the thing with Rhaegar happened and Elia's fury was enough keep Oberyn away from the Stark girl for an eternity. He decided to give her every indication that he despised her existence and eventually his feelings dissolved. Until now. He wanted to stay mad but _she_ chose _him_ as a partner. Plus he had to admit, her ass did manage to look flawless even in her grey pleated uniform skirt.


	3. Chapter 3

Lyanna

At lunch, Lyanna decided to bypass her usual table with her older brothers in a futile attempt to avoid Robert. She sat next to Brienne Tarth. She was a bit of a loner but Lyanna always thought she was kind and funny so she talked to her from time to time.

They ate in relative silence for a while until Robert strolled over, as expected. He was angry. She could tell by just looking into his stormy blue eyes. Fuck.

"Lya. Why have you been such a bitch lately? What the fuck was that with Oberyn Martell? Of all people? Are you fucking kidding me?" His voice rose with each addition question and for the first time, Lyanna was actually afraid of Robert.

Their relationship was always the type where he would be rough and violent with everyone except her. They were in love. He would never do anything to hurt her. But now, things were different. He still loved her. That much was obvious. But he also seemed to resent her. He wanted to make her pay for making him love her only to abandon him. Lyanna was the first person that Robert had opened up to about his parents' death in a boating accident so he always acted like that contributed to their deep connection. He acted as if he owned her and the last thing Lyanna Stark wanted was to be tamed.

She calmly addressed him trying not to cause a scene. "Robert, may we talk outside?" It was the first thing she had said to him since December when he'd tried to give her a promise ring even though she had already ended things. She laughed about it later knowing that Robert would never truly commit to anyone as long as he lived. It just wasn't in his nature.

She gave Brandon a false smile and a thumbs up as she passed by him on her way out of the cafeteria to assure him that everything was alright and not to follow. Brandon always had a tendency to overreact and take things too far.

A safe distance away from prying ears, Lyanna gave Robert the chance to speak. But of course he yelled. "Fuck you, Lya. Martell? That fucking snake. Were you trying to make me jealous? Because it worked. I invested so much in our relationship. I even forgave you after that thing with Targaryen. I stayed committed to you for a whole year. One girl for an entire 365 days. I did that for you. You only care about yourself. I assumed it was just a phase. That I scared you by telling you that I wanted to be with you forever and you just wanted space. But no. It's something completely different. You're so cold, Lyanna. That shit you pulled today in Bio was not okay. You just couldn't wait to publicly humiliate me a second time could you?" He stepped closer and Lyanna began to regret telling Brandon that everything was fine and to stay away.

On the brink of actual tears, Lyanna managed "I don't need this from you. This isn't why I agreed to talk," but when she went to turn away she felt his strong grip lock around her wrist.

For the first time since 4th grade, Lyanna Stark cried in public. It wasn't even that he was hurting her (which he was) she was mad at herself for becoming so connected to someone. She'd told herself when she was seven that love wasn't real after witnessing her mom walk out on a husband and four children. So why had she let herself love someone other than her father and brothers? Him loving her back made it so much worse.

"Robert. Do you actually still think there is anything between us? You were a phase. In all honesty, you disgust me. Let go of me before you leave a mark and regret it," Lyanna spat out.

The anger fell from his face in an instant and he quickly let go. His fury was replaced by a completely apologetic look. But before he could even get the words "I'm sorry" out, he we had been knocked to the ground by a figure who Lyanna had initially presumed to be Ned. Ned was the only person besides Lyanna who was capable of calming Robert down.

Only Ned was right next to her checking to make sure she was okay. Obviously because his little sister never cries.

She snapped out her temporary daze and moved to stop the fight before it got too bad. This was already was too much.

"Brandon! Get off of him!" She grabbed him by his arm and noticed that his sleeves were rolled up. Weird. Brandon never rolled up his sleeves. And when did her brother get so tan?

That's when Brandon actually showed up and pulled Oberyn Martell off of Robert. Did they make some type of connection last period that Lyanna just didn't catch on to? Why would he try to help her? All she ever did was cause problems in his life.

The look on Oberyn's face made it obvious why people referred to him as the Red Viper. He looked ready to destroy something. Lyanna definitely missed something from their talk an hour ago. It was almost as if he cared for her.

Oberyn shook Lyanna's oldest brother off and stormed off towards the parking lot. She assumed it was to avoid being caught by administration after pretty much destroying Robert's perfectly chiseled face.

It was the first day back from Christmas break and Lyanna had already managed to make a scene. And was Robert right? Was there actually something going on between her and Oberyn? Something that only she had yet to learn about?

If looks could kill, Lyanna would have dropped dead after seeing the way that Elia Martell's dark eyes were pinned on her as she scanned the crowd.


	4. Chapter 4

Oberyn

It's not even that he was afraid of getting called down to Headmaster Arryn's office. He wasn't. Oberyn just needed to get away from the situation as quickly as possible to avoid Lyanna Stark.

He hopped into his black Range and sped off campus. His sister would have to find a different ride home. Elia had seen the whole thing and she'd be pissed so it was probably best for him to give her time to cool off.

Surprisingly, Doran didn't even question it when Oberyn casually strolled into the house about four hours earlier than usual.

Oberyn had no idea what had come over him. He had been enjoying his lunch at his usual table outside with his sister, and Ashara and Arthur Dayne when they were graced by the presence of Lyanna and Robert arguing a few feet away. He guessed that she had no idea that they sat there because he figured that if she did, she would've avoided the area at all costs.

So of course Elia felt the need to start on one of her famous "Lyanna Stark is a whore" rants. He had become accustomed to ignoring them entirely. Oberyn proceeded to eat his grapes while tuning out his own tables conversation and tuning into the Stark girl's drama with the neanderthal.

He found it comical that Robert Baratheon actually assumed that just because Lyanna sat with someone new in Biology that she was with him. After realizing that he had been staring a little too long and Elia was picking up on it, Oberyn decided to comment some of his sister's anti-Lyanna statements but was stopped mid-sentence when he saw Robert grip Lyanna's wrist a little too firmly. Under normal circumstances he would've ignored it. Girls knew what they were signing up for when it came to Baratheon. But this was different. This was Lyanna. And was she… Crying?

Before he even had time to process what he was witnessing, he was slamming his fist into Roberts jaw. Then they were on the ground. Oberyn got a few more hits in before Brandon Stark pulled him off.

Oberyn went out the way to not look at her. Although he did have time to see Elia's reaction. He was gonna have some explaining to do.

When he got home, the first thing Oberyn did was go to his bathroom to wash Robert's blood off of his fists and analyze the damage that was done to his own face. He'd probably have a black eye in a few hours but that was about it. He definitely won that fight.

Once he was all cleaned up and had changed out of his Westeros Prep uniform, Oberyn weighed his options on what his next move should be. He was her lab partner so there was obviously no avoiding her. He had made the mistake of making it too obvious that he cared for her. But if she asked he could always argue that he's just not a douche and helped a damsel in distress. That would probably piss her off enough for her to not question his motives.

He didn't really remember falling asleep, but when he woke up, both Doran and Elia were hovering over his bed with displeased looks. Probably for two entirely different reasons.

"Headmaster Arryn called. Says you got into a fight with Robert Baratheon. Elia confirmed this story. He said that normally this would give someone a five day suspension but it seems that you were just defending a girl. So you will not be punished," Doran said in his usual monotone, disinterested voice. Doran watched him for a few more seconds before shaking his head and walking away.

Oberyn hated the way that his brother always acted as if Oberyn was an embarrassment who was incapable of making good decisions. It was times like those when Oberyn wished he had an actual father figure in his life.

"Ahem!" Oberyn was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of Elia clearing her throat. Slowly, he made eye contact with her and waited.

"Before I get angry, I will give you the chance to explain to me what the fuck that was," she stated a little too calmly.

"You know, I don't have to explain myself to you, right? She needed help and I helped. That's it."

"Since when did you ever care about helping other people? And Lyanna Stark? We _hate_ her." Elia's last statement caused Oberyn to shift his eyes and look down.

Fury appeared on Elia's face from his actions. "We _do_ hate her right?."

He didn't respond.

"Seriously, what is wrong with you Oberyn? She stole Rhaegar from me. She pretends to be all nice and innocent but I feel as if the street car racing and the fact that she's been fucking Robert _Baratheon_ for over a year are every indication that she's not. She has done nothing but cause problems in our lives!"

Oberyn addressed her calmly, "Elia. You don't even know her."

"Oh, and you do? Please don't tell me that she's lured you in too. For fuck's sake, what guy doesn't want in Lyanna Stark's pants. I never thought that you, of all people, would have such terrible judgment."

Oberyn wasn't really one for lying to his sister so he just chose not to answer, prompting an eyeroll from his sister and her departure from his bedroom.

He would have to explain his actions tomorrow to Lyanna and probably even to her brothers. Does him coming to her defense make them actual friends now? Or will Bio continue to be as awkward as it was before anything even happened? Maybe he'd talk to her about her serious racing skills to lighten the tension. Rumor has it, she'd starting racing before she even had her learners permit. It felt good to finally admit to himself that Lyanna Stark was his perfect match. Now he would actually have to get back into his proper mindset and use his Red Viper charm to actually have her.

Oberyn was both nervous and excited for the next day. Which was weird seeing as Oberyn Martell was never nervous about anything and he was also never excited to attend school.


	5. Chapter 5

Lyanna

Lyanna had no idea what to make of the events that had taken place at lunch the previous day. All she knew was that she had more of a desire than usual to look pretty for school. She woke up an entire hour earlier than normal, rather than her usual motions of rolling out of bed an entire ten minutes before Ned insisted that they left every morning. Her brother was always so concerned with "maintaining the respect of others by always being on time."

All three of her brothers were shocked upon seeing their sister take her place at the table for breakfast for the first time in about two years. Lyanna always ate her breakfast in the car on the way to school, much to Ned's distaste and Brandon's amusement.

She pretended to not notice their questioning glances, trying not to attract attention to the excessive amounts of eyeliner that she had applied that morning. But of course shock replayed over the faces of her older brothers when they, in fact, did see the black lining around her eyes going off to the sides in little wings. At least both of them knew better than to set her off by saying anything. But that's not to say Benjen did.

"Uh.. Lyanna? I think there's something wrong with your face. I'm not really sure what, but you look different. Like really different. And you straightened your hair. It looks good, I guess."

Lyanna could hear the innocence in her little brother's voice and, although a little embarrassed from being called out, she ruffled his hair and simply responded, "Thanks for looking out for me, little bro."

Lyanna was incapable of being ever being mad at little Benjen. He was in the 6th grade already so she supposed that he wasn't too little. But still, she felt as if it was her job to alway look out for him ever since their mom left. Her older brothers, on the other hand, were a different story.

Brandon's bellowing laughter rang throughout the kitchen seconds after she had just began to actually indulge in her breakfast. Upon looking up, it was obvious that even Ned was laughing at her - he at least had the decency to attempt to hide it.

She calmly finished chewing her eggs and asked, "Is something funny?"

Ned shook his head "no" rather quickly. She then shifted her eyes to Brandon who defiantly answered, "Yes. You. You actually look like a normal teenage girl today. I mean yeah, you wear your skirt everyday to confirm that to everyone at school who may be a little unsure. But today, it looks like you're actually trying to impress someone."

Lyanna face was as red as her BMW 335i. "Shut. Up."

This time Ned laughed out loud. "I'm happy for you, Lya. No need to be ashamed. I love Robert, but he was never right for you. You deserve happiness so if you want to dress up for Martell today, go for it."

She dumped the remainder of her mostly untouched plate into the trash. "Fuck you both. Lyanna Stark lives to impress no one. I'm driving myself to school today." And she was out the door.

Lyanna didn't really consider the fact that she would get to school a full forty minutes early until she was actually there. It took every ounce of her self control to not take a quick power nap in her car. Any other day she would have, but it would've been a disaster if she ended up ruining her makeup before she even got to first period. She opted to play some of her EDM music to mentally prepare herself for the day.

Lyanna was so entranced in a Krewella song that she hadn't even noticed that other cars started to arrive in the parking lot of Westeros Prep until Oberyn Martell himself was knocking on her window.

It took her a second to even process what was happening and it took excessive amounts of self control for her to not check her makeup in front of him. She let down her window and turned down her music. "Um. Hi." She cursed herself internally for not thinking of anything better to say."

Oberyn just gave his signature smirk. "I was walking by and couldn't help but to notice your car. You never drive it to school and I don't think I've ever seen it in the daytime."

"Oh. Hah. Yeah," was all she could manage. Was Lyanna Stark actual at a loss for words?

"School doesn't start for another fifteen minutes. Do you mind if I sit with you?"

She shook her head and moved to unlock the doors.

They sat in an awkward sort of silence for a full minute until Oberyn tried to lessen the tension by turning her music back up.

It soothed her in a weird way and after another song, she had gathered up enough confidence to actually look at him.

More silence.

"You look beautiful today."

And Lyanna's only response, being terrible at conversation, was, "I like your shirt." She had to quickly save herself by adding on that she liked the way he rolled up his sleeves - those being the only unique thing about his shirt.

There was more silence until they were saved by the five minute bell.

She turned off the engine and was out of the car a little too fast. "Well this was fun. I'll see you in 4th."

He grabbed her wrist but then quickly let go. "I'm sorry. I was just hoping we could walk together to 1st. Our classes are right across the hall from each other."

"Right. Yeah. Let's go."

Lyanna's eyes were fixed on the ground the whole walk as she was trying her best to avoid the inevitable judgmental looks. There was about and arms length of space between the two so one could barely say they were even walking together. It was just a weird situation all around.

After what felt like hours, the two were finally in the upstairs building four hallway where both of their classes were located.

"Well. I'll see you in Bio, Lyanna," was all he said.

"Yeah. Same."

She witnessed some emotion flash across his face but it was gone just as quickly as it had come. Was he… Upset? She wasn't sure.

It was when his hand was already on the door handle that she had spontaneously decided to speak again. "I never got the chance to thank you. For yesterday. So thanks."

"I always help a damsel in distress."

And there was the jerk she was so used to avoiding whenever she saw him in or outside of school.

She tried to think of some sort of witty comeback but he was already gone and the door closed in front her. She turned to enter her own classroom only to notice that she had attracted an audience in Cersei Lannister. Great. Now everyones gonna hear about her stupid conversation with Oberyn.

She gave small smile to her "friend" - Lyanna wasn't really sure what she considered Cersei to be - and opened the door for the two of them to enter their English class before they were late.

Lyanna found the morning's events to have been rather odd. 24 hours earlier, Oberyn Martell had been giving her the evil eye every chance he got. So why was he suddenly being so damned nice to her? It's not that she didn't like the attention. She liked him. But she couldn't help but think that he had some sort of ulterior motives for helping her and being nice to her. Maybe Elia was plotting some sort of sick revenge? Maybe he was doing it to get back at Robert after their… Situation. Whatever her intentions were, Lyanna secretly prayed they were good because she rather liked the idea of him. Plus his butt did look amazing in khakis.


	6. Chapter 6

Oberyn

Oberyn quickly composed himself after his morning of trying to woo Lyanna Stark. He put on his usual detached face and took his seat next to Arthur. He could feel his friend studying him. Oberyn supposed that when you're friends with someone since before either of you were potty trained it's pretty easy for them to tell when you're putting on a front.

"You're happy. I can tell. Obe, why are you so fucking happy before 8 am?"

"Fuck off, Dayne. I had just had a decent morning. Okay?"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you have a woman in your life. But it's still so damn early so none of your housewives' husbands have left for work yet. Did you score some drugs? Bro, you need to let me in on whatever you got. Is it coke?"

Oberyn silently thanked to gods when Mr. Mormont finally decided to begin the day's lesson. Sometimes he felt as if Arthur was closer to his sister than he was and last thing he wanted getting back to Elia was that he had actually attempted at flirting with Lyanna Stark in the parking lot.

None of the morning's events were planned. He supposed that it was just fate for them to see each other before the day actually began. He'd never seen her drive alone before. She almost always arrived to school in the backseat of Brandon's Jeep - at least that's how she started to come to school after she dumped the meathead.

Originally, he was afraid to talk to her. She wasn't like other girls. She was drastically different from the ones who would throw themselves all over him. In Oberyn's opinion, desperation was the biggest turn off. The main reason why he had never dated anyone from Westeros Prep was that the girls there never had their own opinions and they would always try to mold themselves to fit their friends or whoever their guy of the week was. Oberyn had noticed long ago that Lyanna would never change for anyone.

Down at the races, they had nicknamed her the "She-Wolf" and he could see why. She was majestic. But at the same time, she was wild. Robert Baratheon had tried to tame her but it was obvious that she needed someone equally as wild by her side. Not that controlling animal.

He had no intentions on speaking to her until Biology came around, In fact, he had planned out their entire conversation before he went to sleep the previous night. But as he and Elia were walking to their normal before school hangout by the cafeteria, he spotted the blood red car on the other side of the parking lot. He told his sister that he'd forgotten something in the car and he'd see her later.

He had originally intended to just admire it until he realized that she was still inside.

Assuming that she'd already spotted him, he decided to say hello. He didn't realize until he was knocking on her window, startling her, that she hadn't.

She was stunning.

She was wearing makeup. Was she trying to impress someone?

He missed the curls in her glossy, dark hair. Why was it straight?

One thing led to another and he was sitting inside of the legendary Beamer that was driven by the fifth best driver in King's Landing.

He was glad to see that she was as nervous to speak to him as he was to her. So they were both out of their element with this talking to new people thing.

After a while in silence, he began to question whether any of it was a good idea. The had so much in common but absolutely nothing to talk about for some reason.

She was watching him with those steely grey eyes and it came out before he even realized that he was considering saying it out loud, "You look beautiful today."

Most other girls, after receiving the compliment, would've probably done some hair twirl, maybe a little giggle, and said thanks. But that wasn't Lyanna. He supposed she just didn't want to seem like some vulnerable girl so she responded with a compliment to a compliment.

She liked his rolled up sleeves? Does that mean she actual liked the way the muscles ripple throughout his toned forearms? He was probably thinking too far into it.

A few awkward moments later they were walking to class together. Oberyn Martell was actually walking a girl to class.

And, as he'd been dreading, she brought it up. She told him thanks for defending her. Which must have taken a lot of courage on her part.

"I always help a damsel in distress" was all he could think of to say. Why did he have to be such a douche all the time? He had actually been making some progress.

So now here he was. Counting down the time until 4th period. It had been pretty hard for him to ignore Arthur's probing all throughout Mormont's class, but at least that was the only period where he sat near a friend. Until fourth he supposed. He wasn't sure what Lyanna was to him.

Under any other circumstances the two would probably already be together, if not just as casual fuck buddies. But Baratheon fell for her after years of creeping on his best friends little sister. Then the Rhaegar thing happened. The odds were not in their favor.

When he had just given up hope, fourth period did roll around. She'd beat him there so he didn't even have the opportunity to admire her toned legs as she strolled in.

The bell rang and they were told to continue on yesterday's assignment. She got the books this time. So he did get to check her out after all.

She threw the books down and took her seat.

"You changed your hair. I liked it better the other way."

"Well your opinion is irrelevant so it doesn't really matter how you like my hair does it?" she snapped back.

"I like my girls feisty."

"You're gross, Martell."

They both read for a little while. He would steal a few glances at her whenever he was sure that she wouldn't notice.

After about a half an hour when he realized he was wasting a class period, he decided to speak.

"You racing tomorrow, She-wolf?"

She rolled her eyes, "No."

"Okay then…"

"But I'll be there. Brandon's racing. We have this rule in our family where we don't race each other. We take turns. So yeah. I'll be there."

"Will I hear you cheering my name?"

"Don't flatter yourself, kid. Our pack only cheers for one another."

Oberyn considered mentioning that he used to see her cheering on Robert but he decided against bringing that up.

He asked her questions. Surprisingly it all came pretty easily. She even asked him a few. Mostly about racing but some were about other things. She was fun to talk to. She actually had a personality.

The class passed quicker than ever after that.

When it was time to leave, he managed to ask the question that had been on his mind since he learned that her favorite pokemon was Bulbasaur.

She was picking up their textbooks to put them away when he reached to take them for her and asked, "Will you eat lunch with me?"

Elia would be pissed because it was a Tuesday and on Tuesdays their table ordered out. She'd be especially mad knowing _why_ he missed Take-Out Tuesday. But Lyanna was worth his sister's wrath and she'd have to get used to the idea eventually. Because he would have Lyanna Stark.


	7. Chapter 7

Lyanna

At first, she was at a loss for words. Of course she wanted to eat lunch with him.

"I suppose I could eat lunch with you today." Her heart was actually pounding in her chest. Yeah they had done a pretty great deal of talking that day, but lunch was so… Public.

She waited for him outside of the door while he was putting away their textbooks. Lyanna was looking through her phone when he came out. By the time she was aware of his presence, he had already extended his arm out towards her and was waiting patiently to head to the cafeteria. She rolled her eyes as she accepted his gesture, placing her hand in the crease of his elbow.

After what felt like an eternity of walking to the center of campus to the cafeteria, they stopped just short of the doors.

"You know that once we walk in there together, there's no turning back, right? There will be rumors," he stated with a concerned look.

"I realize that, but I've been trying this new thing where I don't give a fuck about what people think about me. So if there's nothing better going on in their sad little lives besides something that isn't even going on between us, then so be it."

Lyanna pretended not to notice his approving smile as she moved her hand from his arm for the first time since she'd put it there and entered the large room. Her confidence diminished immediately. She was convinced that everyone in the room was watching her stroll in with the brother of the girl whose boyfriend she tried to "steal". She froze.

"I uh.. I need to go get lunch money from Ned. I left the house so quickly this morning that I forgot to grab cash," she breathed, flustered.

"There's no need. I'll buy."

She switched between looking at Oberyn and glancing towards her brothers' table, not sure of what to do.

"What would you like to eat?"

She weighed her options for a couple more seconds before answering, "pizza."

"Well then, by all means, lets head to the pizza line, my lady," he said jokingly.

Lyanna was kind of thrilled at the idea of Oberyn buying her lunch for her. It's not like she couldn't pay for it herself. Her family had money. It was just that him paying for her food made it feel like a date. And she hadn't been on a real date since before the days of Robert.

Although, once they left the line, they were faced with another dilemma.

"Should we sit outside?" Lyanna questions. Mainly trying to avoid as many people as possible. She had briefly considered sitting with her friend, Brienne, but it looked like she was getting along just fine with Jaime Lannister. She made a mental note to ask about that later.

"We should definitely avoid outside at all costs. My sister is outside and there would be no better way to ruin our da-. Lunch." Did Oberyn Martell's face just turn slightly red?

They found an empty table in a corner, right next to the garbage cans. Great.

The conversation carried on pretty much the same way that it had in Biology. They talked about racing, and television, and how he has a black belt in taekwondo. How his favorite day of the week was Wednesday. He was much more of a normal person than she had ever pictured.

They were getting along just fine until Lyanna made eye contact with one of the last people she was in the mood to see at that moment. Make that two of the last people. Next, the laughter began.

"Brandon, please leave." She was embarrassed.

"Chill, little sis. You're basically guarding the trash. I'm just on my way out with Barbrey here. We wanted to make the most of the last ten minutes of lunch." He winked. "If you know what I mean. I know Martell knows what I mean."

"Brandon! Stop talking."

Her brother moved to throw away his own trash, leaving Barbrey to take care of her own, earning a scoff from her as she moved to do the same.

He was subtle, but quickly he whispered something to Oberyn that she couldn't quite make out before they headed out the door and towards the parking lot. She was disgusted by Barbrey Dustin.

"So what'd he say to you?"

"Oh. Just your typical, 'you better not hurt my sister' threat... No big deal," he nonchalantly added.

"Well that's typical Brandon."

For the first time in a while, they ran out of things to talk about.

"You know, I meant it earlier. When I said you looked beautiful. Well, you always look beautiful. I'd just never said it out loud."

She was literally in the middle of wiping the grease off of her face from the pizza so she knew he was lying.

Rather than responding to the compliment, she just studied his face. She put her napkin down. "What is this? What are we doing?"

"Wow. Well I didn't think this conversation would come up so quickly." He looked down. "I like you. I have for a really long time if we're being honest here."

She laughed. It was probably a completely inappropriate reaction to his confession but she had no idea what else to do.

He spoke again. "I know I have been the biggest asshole to you over the past few months. For that, I am sorry. But that was for the sake of my sister. She hates you. Not me. I admire you. I think that you are a phenomenal driver. And that you are unique. You are unashamed. For example, you are the only female student I have ever seen eat the pizza here. All the other girls try to constantly look pretty so I guess that means no pizza. But you're always beautiful."

She hated when he said that. The word "beautiful" just never really sat well with her. Her mom used to call her beautiful.

"I would love to get to know you better, Lyanna Stark."

She smiled larger than she intended to. "Give me your phone, Martell."

He smiled back and did what she said.

She took it from him. "How do you not have a passcode?" she asked in disbelief as the slid it unlocked.

He just shrugged. "I have nothing to be ashamed of on there."

She hit new message and entered in her phone number. All she typed for the body of the message was:

Hi

She sent the text and returned his phone. "Get to know me better. I'm going to say hi to Ned before he gets too worried about me."

She walked away from their table and pulled her own phone out of her pocket to save his number before she forgot and accidentally sent a "Who's this?" text later.

6 new messages. Great.

She sifted through them.

Ned:

Lya. Where are you? Do you have money?

Cersei:

What's going on with you and Oberyn Martell? First this morning and now lunch?

Robert:

Baby. Please talk to me. I need you. Love you

Cersei:

Text me back!

Brandon:

Get it, Lya ;)

Unknown:

Hi


	8. Chapter 8

Oberyn

After lunch, the rest of his day felt pretty boring.

For the longest, he was embarrassed to admit - to even himself - that he'd had a crush on Lyanna Stark. Actually speaking to her, telling her how he felt, was so riveting. Tuesday, January 4th was one of the happiest days Oberyn Martell had experienced in a very long time.

He had yet to text her. He wasn't sure whether or not she was one of those students that refused to look at her phone during class so he decided to wait.

3 pm rolled around and he headed to the parking lot, prepared to face the wrath of Elia. Hopefully he could talk some reason into her on their ride home. He briefly considered stopping by Lyanna's car to at least say goodbye but he decided against keeping his sister waiting. Moving towards his normal parking spot, he at least tried to catch a glimpse of her. He smiled when he spotted her at a distance. She was walking with the Lannister twins and a rather large, well-built girl whose name he couldn't quite place. He did, however, recall seeing her at a few of the races with Lyanna.

Elia was propped against his passenger side door. She didn't look angry, but Elia was a pro at masking her feelings.

He unlocked the doors as he got closer. "How was your day, sister?"

"What a surprise! You actually care about how my day went."

"So I'm guessing it wasn't too great?"

She scoffed, "It was alright until chorus when Cersei Lannister blindsided me, telling me that she'd seen you eating lunch the wolf bitch."

"When have you ever believed anything that Cersei Lannister has said?"

"So it wasn't true?"

"Oh it was definitely true. I spent lunch today with Lyanna. It was my idea actually."

By now, they were out of the parking lot heading South on Kingsroad.

This time, she sighed. "Oberyn, I don't ask much of you, but you know how I feel about her."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. 'Lyanna Stark is a whore' seems to be your motto. Look, I don't know if it's because you're not over Rhaegar yet or what, but Lyanna should not be the focus of your anger. She did nothing wrong. She didn't make herself win Homecoming Queen. We all saw her doing everything she could to not have to dance with him. She sure as hell didn't want to be kissed by him. It was all him, yet you're mad at her. Please get over it, Elia. If you can't do it for yourself, then do it for me. Don't I deserve happiness? I like her."

This time she only sighed, "You're right, Obe. I realized all of that a long time ago. It just hurts so much to think that what I felt for Rhaegar was never mutual. It's just that she doesn't even have to try. Guys love her and it has never come that easily for me. I had to work so hard to get Rhaegar to notice me. I gave him everything I had and I lost him to a girl who gave him nothing. I'd seen you check her out before. Hell, I've even seen Arthur look at her a bit longer than what's considered normal. She's gorgeous and she's great at everything she tries. Her life is just so fucking easy."

Stopped at a red light, he turned to look at his sister, "See, that's where you're wrong. You made all of your judgments on her based on what you've seen and heard. Have you ever spoken to her?"

"No…"

He pulled into their driveway. "Well I plan on asking her out but I want your blessing first. Please just speak to her so that she knows there are no hard feelings. I don't want her to have any reason to say no."

"Oberyn, I-"

"Please just do this one thing for me, Elia."

Oberyn knew that his plans for what he wanted with Lyanna would never work out if he didn't have his sister's support through it all.

She simply nodded.

He leaned over and kissed his sister on the cheek in thanks before getting out of his truck and heading into their home.

Oberyn considered whether or not it was still too soon to text her.

He came to the conclusion that it wasn't, seeing as she gave him her number which obviously meant that she wanted to talk to him even more than he wanted to talk to her.

He didn't really know what to say to her. After about ten minutes of playing out different possible conversations in his mind, he settled on:

~After some deep thought, I have come to the conclusion that Bulbasaur isn't the worst Pokemon in the world. So I stand by your decision to name him your favorite. Even though he is pretty fucking lame. -Oberyn

Six minutes had passed and he was about ready to throw his phone out the window. She hadn't replied.

Deciding to eat to deal with his anxiety, he left his room for a snack. He was halfway down the stairs when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He prayed that it was her:

~Of course Bulbasaur isn't the worst Pokemon. And I don't need your approval… Besides, I never said he was the best, he's just my favorite. -Lyanna

He quickly composed the smile that had overtaken his face when he spotted Doran studying him from the bottom of the stairs.

"Oberyn," his brother nodded as a greeting as he moved past before disappearing into his room.

He didn't want to take too long to reply but he also wasn't really sure where their conversation (if you could even call it that) should go from there.

Luckily she saved him from having to decide.

~So, what are you up to? Right now, I'm trying to convince my little brother to sneak out tomorrow night to go to the races with us. He's always wanted to watch. At least I'm a good influence. -Lyanna

The same stupid smile was present on his face when he was met by the Dayne siblings as he walked into his own kitchen.

"Hey," they both said in unison before turning back to listen to whatever gossip Elia was feeding them. Oberyn had always found it comical that Arthur Dayne, one of Westeros Prep's most coveted athletes and the fourth ranked driver in the city, was interested in gossip.

~Listening to my sister detail the sexual history of Barbrey Dustin. Your brother's name has come up a few time. -Oberyn

~Ew. -Lyanna

He looked through the refrigerator and settled on one of Elia's yogurts.

~I was thinking that for our Bio assignment we'll probably have to do some work outside of class. So tomorrow right after school? Your place or mine? -Oberyn

~Mine. Since your sister wants me dead and all. -Lya

Were they on a nickname basis now? He'd heard Baratheon call her that before so he decided that if anything did ever happen between him and Lyanna Stark, he'd come up with his own name for her.

He cringed at Lyanna's comment about Elia. He hoped they could be friends someday.

~Sounds perfect. It's probably a bit out of the way, but since I'd be using the gas anyways later on, do you want to ride to school together tomorrow? I could pick you up. If that's okay with you. -O

~That'd be cool, I suppose. My address is 283 Winterfell Lane. I'll see you at what time tomorrow? -Lya

~7:15 -O

~I'll see you then! Go listen in on their gossip so that you can give me a full report in the morning on the shit that they say about me… And about Cersei Lannister. Since she's after Rhaegar and all. :) -Lya

He wasn't sure whether that elicited a response. He did anyways.

~Will do ;) -O

He felt as if a normal smiley face wasn't manly enough so he went for a wink. If it didn't creep her out, it'd at least let her know that wanted a little more than friendship.

He decided to drive the Porsche tomorrow - just for her. She'd probably enjoy that. He generally tried to avoid taking his car to school because he felt as if it was a bit too flashy, but for her, he'd be willing to make an exception.


	9. Chapter 9

Lyanna

Communicating with Oberyn via text came so much more naturally to Lyanna than trying to sound impressive in person.

Once again, she woke up much earlier than her usual time to ensure that she'd be able to make herself as flattering as possible to Oberyn when he picked her up for school.

She briefly recalled the days when Robert would show up at her house every single morning to eat breakfast with her brothers and sometimes even spend time with her before she put her complicated Westeros Prep uniform on. She did her best to remove all memories of Robert from her mind but they'd always come back. She hated that even though he treated her so terribly and cheated on her countless times, she often missed having him in her life. It took so much self control for her not to text him back or answer hs calls.

Lyanna had just gotten out of the shower and was about to begin drying her hair when she heard the doorbell ring. She checked the time. It was only 6:55. She prayed it wasn't him.  
She hadn't broken the news to her brothers yet.

Luckily, both Brandon and Ned stuck to same schedule every morning and weren't due to get out their showers for five more minutes. She walked down stairs to see who it was. Upon opening the door, she came face to face with a Martell - though not the one she was expecting.

Elia Martell was stunning. Lyanna had no idea how anyone could possibly look that gorgeous before 7 am.

Lyanna made no attempts to hide her surprise in seeing the girl who she was pretty sure started the "Lyanna Stark is a whore" Facebook group on her doorstep.

She waited for the girl to say something.

Lyanna realized that she was only in a towel and decided that she probably shouldn't be standing in front of a wide open door. "Uh, you can come in."

Elia looked around nervously before entering the Stark family's home. She still didn't explain her early morning visit and Lyanna was beginning to worry that she wouldn't have time to finish getting dressed.

"I was just getting ready for school. Are you here for me? Because if so you can come up to my room I guess."

Elia just nodded.

Lyanna had never really been the type of person who was ashamed to get dressed in front of people - especially not other girls - but Elia intimidated her like no one else so she quickly put on her undergarments in the bathroom before walking out to her bed where Elia had invited herself to sit.

She wondered if Oberyn knew that his sister was at her house.

"Look, if you're not going to say anything, then I don't really understand why you're here."

"Yeah, sorry. I was so sure of what I was going to say when before I got here but now that I'm actually here, my mind has gone blank. Basically, I'm sorry for the hell I've put you through since Homecoming."

An apology from Elia Martell was the last thing that Lyanna was expected to come out of the older girl's mouth. She was shocked. She froze halfway through pulling up her skirt but quickly composed herself, unsure of what to say.

Elia spoke again. "I put the blame entirely on you and I should've never done that. I guess a part of me was always aware that Rhaegar had a bit of a thing for you. It's just that he publicly humiliated me. I never took into consideration that he'd humiliated you as well. My reaction to the situation was completely inappropriate and out of line. I can't stress to you enough how sorry I am for the way that I've treated you and for the way that I've made people perceive you. I hope you can forgive me."

She was crying. Great. Lyanna had no idea how to respond. She pulled her garnett polo down over head. "Don't worry about it."

That just made Elia cry even harder. Lyanna had never been good with crying people so just she did the first thing she could think of to comfort her.

She sat down next to Elia on the bed and cautiously hugged her. "It's alright. Really. If my boyfriend had done that I would've probably reacted the same way you did."

That was entirely untrue seeing as Robert did, in fact, cheat on her. With four different girls. And each time it was much more than a kiss, but Lyanna felt as if soothing Elia was the most important thing at the moment.

Elia rested her head against Lyanna's chest and cried some more. Lyanna tried to think of calming things to say but out of fear of triggering more tears, she decided that silence was her best option.

This whole situation was weird. Literally yesterday Oberyn had told Lyanna about how much his sister despised her. So why was she at her house at 7 o'clock in the morning making herself seem weak to her self proclaimed enemy?

About five minutes passed before she showed any signs that she was done crying. She sat up, wiping her face. Makeup was smeared all over Lyanna's last clean polo. Maybe she should've waited a little longer before getting ready for school after all.

Elia stood up. "Can I use your bathroom?"

Lyanna just nodded. She checked the time. 7:09. just her luck. She gets up early yet still manages to be late. She'd also have to put on one of the horrendous button down shirts that she'd vowed to never actually wear to school.

She was on the last button when Elia Martell emerged from her bathroom. She had wiped the remainder of her makeup off.

"This is embarrassing. Oberyn had asked me to speak to you. I had no idea I would break down crying. I'm sorry about your shirt."

"It's fine. Like serious, don't worry about it." Lyanna was panicking, trying to find her shoes. She'd never be ready in time and Oberyn would end up having to wait for her. Her brothers would just harass him.

"Shit. I meant to make this quick. My brother's picking you up at 7:15 right? He doesn't even know I'm here. I'm sorry. I guess I kind of interrupted you getting ready, huh?"

"Kinda."

Lyanna hurried to at least try to put on some mascara. She definitely wouldn't have time for breakfast. She was not about to try to eat a bagel in Oberyn's truck.

Elia followed her to the mirror. "You know, you're the last girl that needs to wear makeup. You're really pretty without it."

Lyanna looked at the girl ."Ha. Now you're just trying too hard to be nice."

"No. You're one of the most naturally beautiful people I've ever met."

"Are you kidding me? I wish I had your body. You always look perfect."

"Well we'll just have to agree to disagree on which one of us is more beautiful then."

Lyanna turned back toward her reflection and pulled her hair up into a ponytail for lack of any better options on how to style her air-drying hair.

She felt slightly uncomfortable that Elia was still there, watching her. In frustration, she pulled her hair tie out, unsatisfied with her appearance.

"Would you like for me to braid it?"

Lyanna looked up at her in the mirror. "Um, sure. That'd be amazing actually."

"Any preferences?"

"Well I never really learned much about braiding seeing as I'm surrounded by guys all the time. Just do whatever you think would look good I guess."

Elia just nodded and got to work.

After about thirty seconds, Brandon entered, "Lya, do you have my charger?" He was only in his towel still. Great. Now Elia would think that they all just pranced around naked all the time. "Oh. Hey," he directed towards Elia before shooting his sister a questioning glance in the mirror.

"It's plugged in at my desk. Can you bring me my phone?"

Brandon went to retrieve his sister's iPhone. "Looks like you just got a text from this girl here's brother." He gestured toward Elia.

Lyanna turned red. "Give me it!" She tried to stay still for Elia who was, by now, smiling but not looking up from her handiwork.

"Says he outside. Why the hell would Oberyn Martell be outside? But then again, why the hell would Elia Martell be braiding your hair?"

"Brandon, please."

"I'm gonna reply. Is that alright?" He was already typing.

"No!"

"Relax, sis. I'm just inviting him in for breakfast with the boys. You're obviously not ready yet. It's not nice to keep people waiting." He placed her phone down on the counter. "See ya, Martell."

Seconds later, the doorbell rang. Lyanna said a silent prayer that no one embarrassed her.

"All done!" Elia was grinning, admiring her work.

"Oh, wow. This looks amazing. And it actually takes away from my hideous shirt. Thank you so much."

"Honestly, it's the least I could do for you."

Lyanna realized that she really had no excuse for not heading downstair at this point. She looked fine. Not as good as she wanted to look for Oberyn, but it'd have to do.

Lyanna could tell that Elia still had something on her mind.

She tried to guess what. "So does this means we're friends now? Because you saw me practically naked and you braided my hair," Lyanna inquired hopefully.

"Yes, we're friends now. You saw me cry and I told you the truth about why I treated you like shit."

The two girls hugged. Lyanna noted how amazing Elia smelled.

"I guess since your brother is apparently here for breakfast, you can stay too if you'd like?"

"I'd love too, but I'm actually supposed to be meeting Arthur in twenty minutes so I really have to go. But hey, since you and Oberyn ride to school together and eat lunch together now, would you like to swing by our table today?"

"Yeah I'll talk to him about it."

Elia smiled again - Lyanna had never seen her smile so much - then turned to leave. "Bye, Lyanna. Thanks for listening to what I had to say."

Shortly after, Lyanna found her shoes on two separate sides of her bedroom and then headed downstairs.

So far, her morning was off to a weird start. Did she actually just become friends with Elia Martell? That's the last thing that she'd ever thought was possible. Lyanna put on a brave face and headed down greet the Martell that she'd really been wanting to see that morning.


	10. Chapter 10

Oberyn

Oberyn had originally intended to just wait outside for Lyanna rather than making a scene by actually ringing her doorbell. He'd never seen Rickard Stark but he'd heard stories that made him want to avoid Lyanna's father this early on in whatever was going on between the two of them.

The Stark estate was just as impressive as he'd remembered from the epic Stark Spring Break Bash that the siblings held every year. He'd sent a text to Lyanna to tell here he was outside and had started to play a game of 2048 when she replied.

~ Not quite ready yet. Come have breakfast? Btw that's not actually a question. Come have breakfast.

He was slightly offended that she hadn't signed this one "Lya" as she had done the night before but after some thought he figured that was tedious anyways.

He killed the engine and climbed out of the Porsche.

He rang the doorbell and before "ding-dong" was even done sounding throughout the house, he was face to face with Lyanna's oldest brother. Brandon watched him, he supposed waiting for an explanation.

"I'm here for Lyanna. I was going to drive her today. She told me to come in for breakfast. I don't know if she told you. I can just wait in the car."

Oberyn didn't want to get on her brother's bad side just like how he didn't want Lyanna on his sister's.

"Yeah, I'm just messing with you. I texted you. Lya's still getting ready. I'm pretty sure Ned's cooking something. If not there's cereal."

Oberyn was shocked. Ashara was there, sitting at the Stark family's kitchen table with Ned, eating bacon and toast like it was normal. How did she even get all the way up to the northernmost part of the city so early? And when had she ever talked to Ned Stark?

"Oberyn? Wow what time is it? We definitely weren't supposed to be here this long," his best friend's little sister stammered, taking her attention away from Ned.

Ned was looking down, like he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't have been. "I, uh, went out to get the paper this morning and I found Ashara Dayne, of all people, admiring the flower garden. It was kind of cold outside so I invited her in. Then I cooked breakfast. That's all that happened."

Oberyn chuckled, still slightly confused, "You don't have to explain yourself to me. Ashara is obviously having a great time. My question is just why is she here?"

"She rode up with me. I came to make things right with Lyanna."

He turned, smiling at the sound of his sister's voice coming from the stairwell. "Ah, sister. I suppose I should've been able to put the pieces together. I don't think you've ever left the house so early. Doran was worried."

"Well it was fun running into here, but Ashara and I are supposed to be meeting Arthur before school so we should probably go." She quickly kissed her brother's scruffy cheek. He'd been growing out his facial hair lately. "You ready, Ash?"

Ned gave a small, disappointed smile. Ashara looked in between him and Elia. "Uh, actually you can go on without me. I was in the middle of something with Ned. Just tell Arthur I'll see him later and not to worry about me."

Elia's and everyone else's eyebrows rose questioningly. "Alright. I'll see you, Ash." She whispered, "Good luck," in Oberyn's ear as she brushed past him on her way out.

He wondered how he'd missed seeing his sister's car outside.

Oberyn, who had already eaten, simply poured himself a glass of orange juice and Brandon, recognizing that one less person needed food, piled his plate high with enough for two.

Brandon had been laughing at something on his phone while Ned and Ashara whispered quietly amongst themselves. Oberyn had declared it the most awkward breakfast he'd ever experienced. He'd usually been very observant so he was surprised to notice another Stark sitting at the table with them. He must've been the little brother that Lyanna had mentioned a few times. Benjamin - or something like that.

He was watching him so Oberyn decided to speak. "Hi, I'm Oberyn. You're Benjamin, right?"

"You're the Red Viper? My friends at school talk about you all the time. You're my favorite driver! I've never actually been to any of the races but my friends go and I like you best. They all say that you're way better than even Brandon and Brandon says he really good. This is so cool! Why are you at my house? And actually my name in Benjen. But I don't care. You can call me whatever you'd like. Can I have your autograph? Can I at least take a pict-"

"Benjen! Please stop acting like such a fangirl. I think you're scaring him." As usual, Lyanna Stark was positively enchanting. She approached her little brother, putting her arm on his shoulder. "And no. He will call you Benjen." She looked into her brother's eyes intently, "Ben, you can't let people call you whatever they want. No matter how much you think you love them. Okay?"

The boy nodded in response before returning his attention back to Oberyn. She did the same.

Oberyn studied her face, trying to read her emotions from that last statement.

"Sorry I kept you waiting. I was kind of thrown off by El-"

"Wait," the younger boy interjected. "He's here for you? I thought you hated him. Just last week you called him a cocky bastard. You said he al-" She clamped a hand over the young boy's mouth.

"I think I heard dad call you. It' best not to keep him waiting." She turned an interesting shade of red that clashed terribly with her button down. He'd never seen her wear the button down before. He thought it did a better job showing off her frame than the polo did.

"No he didn't!"

"Go." She was trying hard to look stern but Oberyn could see the love in her eyes as she spoke with her brother.

"But Lyanna!" her brother indignantly responded

This time she just gave him a look that spoke louder than any words. Benjen left.

"Sorry about him. You ready to head out?"

"Aren't you going to eat something?"

"I'll just eat a banana in first period."

Oberyn wouldn't have minded seeing her eat a banana.

"You sure? There's no rush."

"Yeah I'm sure. We're already twenty minutes behind schedule. Let's go." He felt heat go to the area where she grabbed his arm.

By now, Brandon was actually talking on the phone. Oberyn found it strange that he was the one who had invited him in. He expected to be drilled with questions and threats. Although, he was relieved that that didn't actually happen.

Lyanna grabbed the banana that had been mentioned earlier and pulled him towards the door. She glanced up at him quizzically upon noticing Ashara and Ned. Good. So he wasn't the only one who found the pairing odd. He just shrugged.

At the front door, she collected her things and they walked out to begin what would be a long day.

Oberyn stopped suddenly. "Oh! I almost forgot. I have a surprise for you." Her face broke out into one of the biggest smiles he'd ever seen from her. "Permission to cover your eyes, my lady?"

"Of course."

He moved behind her and put each of his hands over her eyes, leading her out to where he parked his car. Her braided hair smelled amazing - like strawberries and chocolate.

"I'm gonna move my hands but don't open your eyes yet. Alright?"

He could feel the smile still on her face as he took his hands away from her eyes. Oberyn quickly retrieved the bouquet of blue winter roses that he'd gotten for her. He'd heard they were her favorite. They were also the same kind that Rhaegar had presented to her at Homecoming along with her crown. He hoped she wouldn't think of that though.

"All right. You can open them now." He found himself holding his breath, unsure of how she'd react.

Her jaw dropped. Her mouth then formed a smile even wider than the one she'd given him when he'd initially told her he had a surprise for her.

He handed her the roses. "I also wanted to take you for ride in my Porsche. That's why I was coming so early. But we can always go another time."

She regarded the roses for what felt like forever. When she looked up, he'd never seen happiness so obvious in a person's eyes.

She kissed him. It was chaste at first but became deeper with each passing moment. Soon, Oberyn found himself pressed up against his own car with Lyanna's tongue fighting his for dominance. She tasted like mint. It mixed weird with the orange juice he'd just had. It was perfect.


	11. Chapter 11

Lyanna

Lyanna ate lunch with the Martells and Daynes which was much less awkward than she had anticipated. She could clearly see why Oberyn and Arthur were such great friends - they were so alike. She had a feeling that Arthur didn't really like her too much, but she'd hoped he'd come around. After lunch, Oberyn walked her to the locker rooms for gym on his way to his own 5th period.

The class was split up into four large groups that never really interacted with each other and that was perfect for her. Coming back from break, the gym classes hadn't really done anything on that Monday and Tuesday so Lyanna was pretty excited to actually do something physical that day.

Lyanna still couldn't believe that she was the one to make the first move on Oberyn. In a way, she had wanted to play hard to get. To make him work for it. But she didn't know what else to do besides kiss him when he had given her the flowers. It was a beautifully romantic gesture. She hadn't really had too many experiences with those in past relationships so Oberyn's surprise really stood out.

She had finally convinced Brienne to give her the details on whatever it was that she had going on with Jaime Lannister as they walked from the girl's locker room to the gymnasium. They were on their way to Group 3's corner when Coach Selmy announced that he'd actually be creating new groups for the second semester.

The entire class groaned simultaneously. Lyanna didn't really care about new group assignments as long as she had Brienne. Luckily for her, Brienne was Coach Selmy's favorite student because of her active participation in just about every sport at Westeros Prep. For that reason, he'd never split her up from her only friend in the class.

Lyanna was thinking about her ride to school with Oberyn and how he was a much more cautious driver than she would've ever anticipated. The recollection made her smile.

"Alright. And last names Stark through Yronwood are Group 4 and you will be playing kickball for the next two weeks."

Her face paled at the realization.

In the months following her infamous kiss with Rhaegar Targaryen, Lyanna had managed to do a pretty good job at avoiding him. The only times when she would ever see the mayor's son were at the races and at a distance in her gym class.

She just sat there in her spot on the gymnasium floor trying to come to terms with her situation. It was a rare event that Lyanna Stark ever let another person ruin her happiness. She felt that exact thing happening.

"Ms. Stark? Is something wrong?"

"What? No, I'm fine." She quickly stood up. She felt dizzy. Why was this happening to her? She was having a perfect day. She should've known that there was no such thing.

By then, Coach Selmy had walked away to attend to the other groups as they headed outside towards the fields.

Brienne looked concerned, "Lya, are you okay? I'm sure we could talk to Coach and he'll have your group switched."

"I'm fine. Really. Let's hurry before they choose teams without us." Lyanna tried to shake off her obvious disoriented state.

Brienne nodded, still visibly worried, yet she left it alone as they headed outside with the rest of their group.

By the time teams were done being picked, Lyanna's anxiety had worsened. She was separated from Brienne and was on a team with the person who had made school hell for her because of his actions.

Luckily, he hadn't said anything to her. She'd hoped it'd stay that way.

He'd tried to be subtle but Rhaegar Targaryen was so tall and blonde that it was pretty much impossible for him to get behind her in the kicking line without being noticed.

Two kickers had already gotten out and she was praying for a third - anything to get away.

He leaned forward and hesitated before actually saying anything. This was the moment she'd been dreading ever since her crowning had happened. "Hello, Lyanna."

She felt lightheaded. She fainted.

When she woke up, she was in someone's arms. Oberyn. Someone must have told him she wasn't feeling too well. He'd left his own class to help her. She really liked him.

Only the voice wasn't his. "You're awake? Thanks the gods. I was so worried about you. I'm taking you to the clinic, okay?"

"Put me down! I'm fine!" She was horrified that Rhaegar Targaryen actually thought it appropriate to touch her.

"Calm down. I'm just trying to help." He actually had the nerve to look slightly wounded.

She tried to sound more stern. "Well you'll just make things worse. Put me down."

"Lyanna… I-"

"I'm dating Oberyn now. Whatever you think you'll get out of carrying me to the clinic when I can walk on my own is never going to happen. I barely stopped Robert from trying to kill you after that stunt you pulled at Homecoming and I won't stop Oberyn if he finds out about this."

That did the trick. He stopped walking and gently set her down. Next, he scowled at her.

"Suit yourself, bitch. I tried to give you another opportunity but it looks like your friend Cersei will have to do." He stormed away back in the direction they'd come.

Lyanna really needed to sit.

After some time spent in the grass between buildings three and four, she managed to make the walk to the school nurse who had just instructed her to rest in one of the beds until she felt better. Lyanna thought about the fact that she had actually referred to Oberyn as her boyfriend. That made things so much more real. Next, she slept.

She was woken up by Brienne who, when she realized that Lyanna was still at the clinic through 7th period, got permission and gathered up her friend's clothes and belongings from the locker room.

"Lyanna, what happened?"

"I don't remember too clearly. I just know that I passed out. When I woke up, Rhaegar Targaryen was carrying me here." She looked up at Brienne. "Why did you let him touch me? You know how I feel about him."

"He wouldn't let anyone else near you, Lya. Believe me, I tried to bring you here myself. I didn't realize it was so bad though. You've been here for almost three hours. I would've told your brothers."

"It's probably best that you didn't. Thanks, Brienne."

Lyanna got up from the uncomfortable clinic bed. She debated changing back into her school uniform from her gym clothes but decided against it when she saw the time. 2:57. She'd only had three minutes left of school and decided that there was no point in putting that hideous uniform back on.

She wondered if Oberyn would be worried about her. She checked her phone. It was as if she hadn't been M.I.A. for the past two hours. Nothing from anyone. Except Cersei of course who was upset about the Rhaegar situation rather than worried for her friend. If she knew, everyone knew. She could already imagine the different rumors that would be going around about her and Rhaegar. How they snuck away from gym to hide away together and make love and that was why she missed her last two classes. Lyanna braced herself and headed outside.

Lyanna and Oberyn had agreed after lunch that they'd meet in the parking lot by his car at the end of the day so the two girls headed there.

She supposed that Oberyn just didn't want to stress her out with a text because when she approached his car, he was pacing back and forth, obviously heated.

She really didn't want him to be upset with her. They had just moved past the Rhaegar drama that had kept them from communicating for months and now it was coming back.

"Hi." She approached him nervously.

This time, he kissed her. Lyanna Stark was never really one for making spectacles but she could understand why, following the events of that day, Oberyn would want as many witnesses as possible to seem them together. Her braid was already a mess from the nap and she was sure that Oberyn's hands in her hair were making it even worse. She didn't mind. It wasn't long enough before he pulled away.

"Lyanna, I heard what happened. Are you okay I wasn't really sure what an appropriate reaction from me would be. The way he talks about you just makes me so angry. It took so much self control for me not to do anything. Shit. I had to sit through Calc with that prick." He was cracking his knuckles. "I just want to know if we're together. Like are you my girlfriend? Or am I making this into something more than it actually is? I know this all happened really fast, but I think we have something real." He had this hopeless look in his eyes, like he'd just put himself on the line and she had the power to completely shatter him.

"Yes, Oberyn. I am your girlfriend. And yeah, I'm fine. I just got a bit overwhelmed."

He nodded, she supposed letting it sink in that he, Oberyn Martell, was actually entering into a relationship with someone. "I wish I was there. Just thinking about him holding you is disgusting to me. After what he did to Elia…"

"Oberyn, it's really okay. I just needed more time away from him and I wasn't expecting to ever be that close to him again. I'll be fine though. Plus, you're still the better driver. That's all that matters really."

He pondered that for a second. "In my opinion, he's never really been that great a driver. In all honesty, I don't really understand how the rankings work. You've beat him, what? Three times now? How is he ranked ahead of you?" He opened her door for her and closed it after she had gotten inside.

Lyanna reveled in the fact that she had somehow been able to successfully change the subject to racing - the one thing that actually seemed to put her at ease.


	12. Chapter 12

Oberyn

Oberyn was shocked by the rate at which his relationship with Lyanna was progressing.

Their scheduled time after school was less working on Bio and more of an intense three and a half hours of really getting to know each other.

Arriving at the Stark residence, the new couple separated as Lyanna went to get snacks from the kitchen. She directed him to the third room to the left side of the stairs. Lyanna's bedroom. Oberyn had been wondering for a while what her room would be like.

He'd pictured it as being a light green color without too many decorations on the walls except for a few posters - probably saved from her childhood. She didn't seem like the type to express herself in the form of material things. He also deemed her as the type who probably didn't make her bed every morning.

The bed thing was the only aspect of Lyanna's room that he'd guessed right about.

The walls were painted a subtle shade of grey. He'd thought it a pretty boring color for a girl but then he remembered that Lyanna Stark was no ordinary girl. The walls were almost completely covered in pictures detailing her childhood through her high school years.

One particular image that stood out to him was of her on the day that her dad bought her the red beamer he had become so accustomed to watching her drive. The picture had been taken by someone in the backseat. He supposed the mystery photographer was Ned seeing as Robert Baratheon was the passenger. He decided then that he'd make it his duty to earn a spot on her wall of memories.

He'd been admiring an image of his girlfriend on her first day of kindergarten, smiling next to her two older brothers and holding her youngest in her arms when he heard her clear her throat. She was leaning against the door in a way that made it seem as if she'd been standing there for a while.

"Lyanna, this is amazing. This must have taken some serious dedication. But I have to say, it is not what I was expecting."

She looked at him questioningly as she moved to place down the fruit and water that she'd brought up for them. "What were you expecting?"

"Green. I thought you liked the color green."

"I love green. It reminds me of outside. My room is grey because when I was a little girl, my mother used to always tell me that my favorite color had to be either pink or purple or maybe even yellow, so my room was painted purple. When my mom left us, the first thing I did was try to convince my dad to let me paint it black. It was the un-girliest color I could think of. We settled on light grey."

Oberyn gave her an understanding smile. He grabbed an apple before moving to sit beside her.

"So.. Biology," she deadpanned.

"Yeah, we should really work on that." He hated to say it, but they were really behind.

He retrieved his laptop from his backpack that had been sitting on the bed. When he turned to face her, she was staring intently at him. Once they made eye contact, it held for a while.

She reach for his forearm and pulled it towards her. The bite that she took out of his apple was the single most seductive thing that Oberyn Martell had seen in his entire lifetime. He watched the juice trickle down her bottom lip before she lunged forward to claim his mouth. They kissed with a fervour that was unmatched in Oberyn's past experiences. Soon, Lyanna Stark straddled him, her hand up his shirt, his fruit discarded on her wood floor. He took the opportunity to really appreciate the less than conservative design of Westeros Prep's gym uniform. He cupped her ass in his palms earning a quiet moan from his now girlfriend. It was when she broke their kiss and began to pull her bright red, fitted t-shirt up over her head, revealing a black lace bra, that he decided against it.

"Lyanna, stop," he panted.

She paused with her shirt already above her head, exposing a milk white torso that directly contrasted his darker features.

"What's up? Do you not want this? I thought it was well established that we've both done this before."

"Yeah. But this feels different." She just watched, hurt. "I actually have these really strong feelings for you that I've never had for anyone before and I just feel like we shouldn't rush into things. I don't want to risk us getting bored because everything happened so fast, you know?"

"Yeah, I totally understand." Rather than putting the same shirt back on, Lyanna disappeared into her closet for what couldn't have been more than thirty seconds and reemerged in a simple black romper that added a sort of dark feel to her look.

"Let's get to work then," she sighed, reclaiming her seat on her own bed.

Luckily for both of them, the awkwardness of the situation faded as they eventually began to discuss the extreme excitement that they both were feeling for the night's races.

After thorough convincing, Lyanna agreed that during Oberyn's races, she'd leave the Stark section and stand in his area and cheer him on - even though he wouldn't be able to hear any of it.

Oberyn had had plenty of girls in the past yell words of encouragement towards him from the sidelines but never one as great as Lyanna.

After all of the car talk died down, they ended up watching four episodes of Bob's Burgers on his Netflix account. It was safe to say that no Biology was getting done that day.

By 7, Benjen was knocking on her door, warning her that their father expected her to be down for dinner within the next two minutes. He took that as his cue to leave.

They headed down together and she walked him to the door.

"I'll see you in a few hours, Lyanna."

She quickly kissed him as her goodbye before scampering off in the direction of her family dinner.


	13. Chapter 13

Lyanna

Lyanna paced throughout her room in anticipation fof the night's races. She was just ready to see Oberyn again.

They officially started at 10 so Ned mandated that they leave their house by 9:30 to be ten minutes early.

Dinner mostly consisted of heavy teasing from brothers as well as disapproving glances from her father.

When the time came around, the Stark kids piled into Brandon's Audi. They had successfully convinced their little brother to go against their father's wishes and go out with them that night. They promised to introduce him to some of the other drivers. It made Lyanna happy to see Benjen happy.

On the ride over to Dragonfire Ave., they listened to Brandon's playlist titled "Killin' It" which consisted of a combination of hardcore rock and rap music. He always said that if he didn't listen to the music on max volume before his races, he'd lose. But if they were being honest, Brandon had never beat Oberyn. No one had.

Brandon parked in the designated Stark section on the right side of the street, conveniently located next to Robert's.

It was the first time she had seen her ex since their argument on Monday. He had been waiting for her.

She was barely out of the car when he walked over. "Lya, hey. I've been calling you. And texting. I just really wanted to apologize for what went down on Monday. It's just… You know I have a temper and sometimes I can't control myself."

"Robert, leave her alone." By then, Ned had joined them. Brandon was still at the car, going over the rules with Benjen.

"Ned, I love you but I'd really appreciate it if you'd let me talk to Lya alone." He was starting to get upset.

She got a text.

~ What's going on over there? - O

She looked across the street at where Oberyn and his entourage usually parked and spotted his bright orange car before she noticed him watching her intently.

The words being exchanged between her brother and his best friend became background noise to her.

~ Robert's trying to apologize. Ned's tearing him a new one. You should come over - Lya

"Ned, I made one mistake. That doesn't mean I'm not worthy of your sister. Don't you want to be brothers one day? I'm just trying to apologize." He turned to face her. "Lya, please -"

Oberyn came from behind, hugging her waist. He kissed her cheek then rested his chin on her shoulder. "Something wrong, Baratheon?"

"What the fuck? Lyanna, is there something you want to tell me?" He was pissed.

"I don't owe you an explanation, Robert. I honestly don't feel like doing this right now." Her hands were resting on top of Oberyn's on her stomach. "I'm here to watch the races, not to make up with you."

Robert took a step closer, reaching for Lyanna. Ned stopped trying to play the mediator.

"Robert, just go. I tried to stay neutral because you're my friend, but don't ever presume to touch my sister again." It was a rare moment for Ned to ever be angry.

Robert was visibly grinding his teeth, ignoring Ned. "Watch yourself, Martell."

The two stared each other down until Oswell Whent began reading off the rules.

Oberyn spun her around to face him and drew her in for a kiss. "Gotta go, beautiful." He crossed the street.

Robert also took that time to head back to his car and his people.

"Two cars will be racing at a time. There will be five heats to determine who races in the semifinals and the final. Ten cars will be racing in total based on their standings from last weeks races. The rankings are as follows: Ethan Glover is 10th, Gerold Hightower is 9th, Ned Stark is 8th, Jaime Lannister is 7th. Lyanna Stark is 6th, Rhaegar Targaryen is 5th, Arthur Dayne is 4th, Robert Baratheon is 3rd, Brandon Stark is 2nd, and Oberyn Martell is still holding onto 1st. Neither Lyanna Stark nor Ned Stark will be participating this evening. Therefore, they will nominate two drivers to race in their stead. Lyanna, Ned, who will you choose?"

"Roose Bolton." Lyanna had to admit, Roose was an odd kid, but he was always civil towards her and he had some serious potential.

"Howland Reed." Howland would definitely be a dark horse, should he surprise everyone there and do well.

"Alright. So the first race will be Roose Bolton in Lane 1, Howland Reed in Lane 2. Head down to the line, drivers."

Lyanna gave Roose a thumbs up in encouragement. He ignored her, as she'd expected.

"The second heat will be Gerold Hightower in Lane 1, Ethan Glover in Lane 2. Third is Rhaegar Targaryen in Lane 1, Jaime Lannister in Lane 2. Fourth will be Robert Baratheon Lane 1, Arthur Dayne in Lane 2. Fifth is Oberyn Martell in Lane 1, Brandon Stark in Lane 2. As always, the drivers ranked first and second will race three times. Whoever wins best two out of three will move on to the final. You are required to be at the start two races prior to your own. There will be a five minute break in between the races between Martell and Stark. Good luck, everyone."

The rankings were different than everyone had anticipated and Lyanna hadn't realized that Oberyn and Brandon would be going head to head. She supposed she'd just alternate between who she cheered for. She honestly had no idea how the rankings worked. She knew there was some sort of weighted points system for what you place in each race, then the total number of points from each week determined your ranking.

Roose beat Howland by a pretty good distance and, although she felt some sense of pride for the boy in the pink car, she did feel kind of bad for Howland who had really wanted to break through that week.

In the second race, the winner was Gerold Hightower. Lyanna was sure that Roose could take him.

Rhaegar was defeated by Jaime which brought Lyanna more joy than it probably should have.

Much to her dismay, Robert managed to win against Arthur. She didn't know him too well, but Lyanna was really pulling for him. And not just because his opponent was Robert.

When the much anticipated race between her own brother and Oberyn came up, Lyanna found herself pacing. The track was 3 miles long so they wouldn't know until the end who was in the lead. She was biting her nails - a habit that she thought she'd shaken years ago. Benjen was ecstatic.

"Lya, this is amazing! Who do you think will win? Brandon told me I'm supposed to want him to win, but I wouldn't really care if Oberyn won either. He's your boyfriend right?"

"Yes, Benjen. He's my boyfriend."

"So who do you want to win?"

"I'm neutral."

Just then, they could see the headlight getting closer. The two cars were neck and neck. When they flew by, It was obvious that Brandon was ahead, though barely.

Lyanna heard Barbrey squeal from where she was standing with her sister, who was fawning over Roose. She rolled her eyes.

"Lya, who won? I couldn't tell!"

"Brandon."

"The winner is Brandon Stark, Brandon and Oberyn will race again in five minutes."

Lyanna turned to tell Ned that she was going to head over to say hello to Elia. He was happily talking to Ashara Dayne.

"Ben, do you want to go across the street with me?

"Yeah!"

By the time they had made over to the Martell section, Oberyn was getting ready to head back to the start.

Brandon never talked in between races because he believed it threw him off of his game.

Oberyn called her to his window. "You should give me your favor. I need your help if I'm going to win the next two races."

Lyanna chuckled. "My favor? What is this? Medieval times?" She handed him her hair tie. "This is all I have on me."

He kissed her hand as she handed it to him.

When he drove away, Lyanna walked over to Elia and Arthur.

"Hey, guys."

"Lyanna, hi!" Elia went in for a hug.

"Hey," was all that Arthur offered.

"Benjen, this is Elia, Oberyn's sister, and this is A-"

"Arthur Dayne! You are so cool. I'm your biggest fan. I love your car. I dont really know what kind it is since I don't really know much about cars but I know you call it Dawn and that is so cool."

Arthur seemed to be caught off guard. "Oh, yeah." He spoke again when Benjen didn't look away. "Do you want to see it?"

"Yes!"

"Walk with me, Stark."

Lyanna saw the pride on her little brother's face upon being called "Stark."

"So, Elia. I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds with this, but you and Arthur?"

"Oh. It's that obvious, huh?"

"Kinda. But you two are cute together."

"Not as cute as you and my brother. You two complement each other perfectly. You both have pretty wild personalities. You never back down from a challenge. I think you'll be good for him. He's never been in an actual relationship."

They heard the horns that signaled that the cars were approaching the finish.

"OBERYN! WOO! YOU GOT THIS!" Lyanna found it pretty hard to contain her excitement for him when she was actually standing in his section.

Elia simply clapped as the cars sped past.

Oswell Whent confirmed the winner.

"Lyanna! I saw who won that time! It was Oberyn! I knew he'd win."

She turned in time to almost be knocked over by her little brother's hug. She ruffled his hair. "Hey, he's not your boyfriend. Aren't you supposed to be cheering for Brandon?"

By then, Oberyn pulled his car up to where they were all standing.

She leaned into his window and gave him a small peck on his lips. "You totally only won because I gave you my favor."

"Well thank you, beautiful. I couldn't have done it without you." He seemed pretty stress free for someone who still had one more race to win.

"Hey, Lyanna! Some of us peasants would like to offer some word of encouragement as well."

"Sheesh, Arthur. He's all yours." She walked back over to Elia.

"I feel like Arthur may be a tad bit jealous of you. He usually coaches Oberyn in between his races."

"Oh. I didn't mean to intrude or anything." Lyanna knew what it felt like to have your best friend basically stolen from you. She glanced across the street but quickly looked down when she realized he was watching her too.

"You don't have to apologize. Arthur's just not used to another person being in Oberyn's life.

"I should probably head back over anyways before Brandon decides that I don't love him anymore. This was fun, Elia. Ben, come on."

She walked by the front of Oberyn's car and gave him a thumbs up as she walked back to support her family.

Brandon's car was surrounded by girls. Of course. He let his window down when he spotted his sister. "You're back from cheering on the enemy?"

"You do realized that you just spoke to me in between your race, right? Don't blame me if you lose, bro." Lyanna kept walking and took a seat in the grass a few feet from where Ned was with Ashara.

She chanced a look at her phone.

~ If we can't talk in person because of your bodyguards, can you at least respond to my texts? - Robert

She sighed and gave in.

~ What could you possibly have to say to me? I'm sorry? Because I obviously don't accept your apology. - Lyanna

Why did he have to try and talk to her now? When they were literally 10 feet away from each other. It was awkward.

~ I don't know who told you or why they thought it a good idea. I wanted to tell you myself. I know that what I did was inexcusable, but I was obviously at a bad point in my life. Both of my parents had just died. I went out, I got drunk, I made mistakes. It just kills me that you don't have it in your heart to forgive me. I figured you would, but now, it's obvious that you've moved on. All I wanted to say is that I'll never give up on you, Lya. - Robert

By the time she finished reading, the race was over. She didn't respond.

"Oberyn Martell wins best two out of three against Brandon Stark. The next race will be Gerold Hightower in Lane 1 and Roose Bolton in Lane 2. After that Robert Baratheon in Lane 1 and Jaime Lannister in Lane 2."

Sh walked over to join her brothers by where Brandon had parked and gotten out of his car.

"I'll get him next time."

Lyanna patted him on the back, "Nice try."

He gave his sister a false smile.

In the next race, Roose Bolton won. Lyanna predicted that he'd be riding that high for a while.

Robert had beaten Jaime. He'd always been exceptional at driving angry and she had guessed that he was very angry.

Again, Robert won, shaming Roose.

So the final showdown would be Robert against Oberyn. Great.

There was a ten minute break before last race. Lyanna made an effort for Robert to see her head back over to support Oberyn. She invited her brothers. Ned declined because of his unfailing loyalty to Robert Baratheon.

Lyanna, Brandon, Benjen, and Ashara all headed over to talk to the Martells.

Arthur initially rolled his eyes at their approach but then put on a smile for his sister. "So nice of you to finally join us, Ash.

She approached Oberyn who was sitting inside of his car with the door open. He stood he saw her and pulled her in for a hug. He sat back down facing out of the car and pulled her into his lap.

"Brandon, no hard feelings right?"

"I'm on your sideline right now so obviously not, man. Plus its not like it's anything new."

"That is true."

Lyanna could feel Oberyn's breath on her neck when he spoke. I reminded her of what didn't happen earlier that day.

Soon, her brothers walked away to join the Daynes and Elia. He kissed her just below her ear and chills went down her spine. She felt for his hand where it had been resting on her thigh. She entwined her fingers in his as they just sat there together in intimate silence. Lyanna felt the wetness forming between her legs. She moved her hips ever so slightly.

He kissed her neck. "I need to head down to the start before I get disqualified."

She snapped out of her silent bliss and squeezed his hand. "You got this, Obe."

"I know I do."

She got up and headed to the rest of the group.

By the time the race actually started, Lyanna's fingernails were completely chewed down.

She was usually pretty good at determining winners after the number of times that she'd been to the races, but when Robert's bright yellow zoomed by at virtually the same time as Oberyn's orange one she was unsure.

"It's looking like a photo finish," Oswell Whent's voice boomed. "We will review the tapes and announce a winner within the next five minutes."

Lyanna paced some more. She was still pacing when Cersei Lannister appeared behind her.

"Oh. Hey, Cers."

"Lyanna."

"Is there something that you wanted to say?"

"Just that I know what you did. With Rhaegar."

Lyanna laughed out loud. "Rhaegar Targaryen is the least of my worries right now. Plus I do anything."

"I just wanted to make sure we could still be friends, Lya. It's just that, Rhaegar asked me out today and I didn't know how you'd feel about that."

"Uh… I feel kind of bad for you and I think by saying yes, you're making a mistake. But go for it. You have my blessing."

"Well I would've gone for it anyways. Just make sure you don't try to steal him again."

Oswell Whent saved the day. "The winner is Oberyn Martell! By a record .126 seconds!"

Lyanna found herself running to the finish line where the winner claims his medal. Oberyn must have dozens of those.

He extended his arms out when he noticed her approach. She jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. In their rush to feel each other's tongues in their mouths, their noses kept knocking together. Eventually they got it right and it was a perfect moment.

Because they had Benjen, the Stark siblings headed home a little earlier than they normally would have. It was only 12:30 when Ned insisted that she get out of Oberyn's car where they had been talking, and into Brandon's.

It was by far one of the best days of her life even if it had just added to the seven weeks she had gone without getting laid.

Looking for pajamas, she came to realization that her laundry still wasn't clean. She decided to just wear a t shirt. The only one that she'd figured was large enough to keep her warm through the night happened to have a huge picture picture of Robert's face on the front with the word "mine" underneath. She felt guilty that she still owned it. She promised herself that she should burn it one day. But for that night, she wore it.

She looked at her phone.

~ Goodnight, beautiful - O

~Goodnight, beautiful - Lya

She plugged her phone charger into the wall and shut off her light to sleep.

She knew that she probably shouldn't have, but she did it anyways.

~ You drove well tonight, Roberto - Lya


	14. Chapter 14

Oberyn

It took every ounce of self control for Oberyn to not go over and wipe the smug look off of Robert Baratheon's face that Friday. In his opinion, the bastard deserved more than three days suspension for laying a hand on Lyanna.

He hated that with Robert being back at school, Lyanna seemed less angry with her ex than she was when he hadn't been around. It had only been two days, but Oberyn was beginning to feel insecure within his own relationship. He was regretting not having Lyanna when he was first presented with the chance

Oberyn waited for her outside of her 7th period as he had become accustomed to doing. He greeted Brienne and the Lannister twins with a simple nod as he took his girlfriend's hand and pulled her in for a quick kiss.

"So did you decide whether or not you could find time in your busy schedule to come over tonight? I told you, it's tradition. You coming to my place is the only way we can see each other tonight."

On the first Friday night of every month, Oberyn, Elia, and the Daynes would always get together in the Martell's basement and just catch up and watch movies. It had been happening ever since Oberyn was 12. Arthur would probably be a little bitter about Lyanna being there but Oberyn had an overwhelming desire to spend as much time with her as possible.

She sighed. "Yeah, exactly. It's tradition. That's your thing with your sister and your closest friends."

"Well you're one of my closest friends too now. You should be there. Especially since Arthur and Elia are together. I need something to take my mind off of what my best friend may or may not have done with my sister."

They continued their walk to the parking lot towards where her brothers waiting. "Can I bring Ned? Like for Ashara? Obviously there's something there and it'd be really shitty if it were just two couples and Ashara."

"If bringing Ned is what'll get you to come, then yes."

"Sweet! We'll be there."

He brought her in for a tight hug and a kiss on the top of her head before letting her go. Lyanna climbed into the backseat of Brandon's Jeep and let down her window, leaning out to speak. "Text me your address!"

He couldn't help but grin. "See you tonight, beautiful."

He wasn't really sure how it began but it seemed that he'd been referring to Lyanna as "beautiful" more often than by her name. It suited her perfectly. She was beautiful.

As he was walking away, Oberyn turned back to see if she was still watching him. Her eyes were focused down - probably on her phone.

On the ride home, he briefed Elia on what was to come that night. They both agreed that it'd probably be best to not tell Arthur about their visitors ahead of time. He probably wouldn't show if they did.

When he got home, Oberyn showered and did his best to straighten up his room in case Lyanna didn't want to spend her entire night there with the others.

He looked at his phone for the first time in hours. It was already 6:30.

~ It'd be really nice if you'd send us that address before Ned changes his mind. We're on the way. - Beautiful

He had a feeling she was teasing him by signing the text that way but he couldn't help but smile.

~ 512 Sunspear Ct. Is pizza fine? - O

~ When is pizza ever not fine? - B

That was just like Lyanna to be too lazy to type out eight more letters.

By the time he deemed his looks satisfactory, Arthur and Ashara were already there. Oberyn dropped down into his usual spot on the recliner.

He wondered if Ashara had any idea that Ned Stark was coming. Ashara had always been like another little sister to him and Ned Stark was one of the only guys that he saw fit to have anything to do with sweet, innocent Ashara. Well maybe she wasn't all that innocent, but she was sweet.

"Obe! If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were wearing cologne."

He looked for Arthur to direct a response only to realize that he'd moved from the place where he'd been sitting on their movie nights for 5+ years to be closer to Elia. He was going to need a drink.

"Anyone else need something from the bar while I'm up?"

"Beer."

"Beer."

"Elia?"

"I'll pass."

"Shit, I guess I'll start with a beer too." Oberyn grabbed three Budweisers from the fridge behind the bar.

Elia was telling a story about how Cersei Lannister had cornered her in the ladies restroom earlier that day and how she had told her that Elia obviously wasn't deserving enough of Rhaegar. Apparently he'd told her that she, Cersei Lannister, was the one he always wanted. The doorbell rang.

Oberyn jumped out of his seat. "I'll get that. I've already heard this story."

He heard his sister continue to talk as he headed up the stairs to get to the door before Doran did.

He opened the door to a bouquet of flowers - daisies he'd concluded.

"We brought gifts!" He heard Lyanna shout from behind Ned. "The flowers are for Ashara, obviously. The cookies are for Arthur. Elia told me he liked this brand," Lyanna explained.

"Well what'd you bring me?" He motioned them inside.

She pushed him back against the door he'd just opened. "Just the gift of my presence." It was obvious that Lyanna wasn't messing around when she bypassed his mouth and immediately went to kissing on his neck.

A throat cleared from behind her. Next came a voice that wasn't Ned's. Lyanna spun around. "Brother, would you care to introduce me to your new friends?"

She was beet read. "I'm Lyanna Stark." She extended her hand for Doran to shake.

His brother accepted his girlfriend's hand skeptically. "Doran Martell."

"Eddard Stark." They shook hands as well.

"Oberyn, this wouldn't happen to be the same Lyanna Stark that-"

"Yeah. Same one, Doran." He hoped she wouldn't ask.

"Hm." He nodded. "Well have fun, I guess." He turned and headed upstairs towards his room. They were quiet until they heard the door close.

"Same Lyanna Stark that what?" She asked him aghast.

"Do you even need to ask, beautiful?" Like always, referring to her as beautiful worked to lessen the tension.

She punched him playfully in the arm.

He took her hand. "Follow me."

"Where's your bedroom?" She leaned in and whispered into his ear.

"I'll give you the grand tour later. I promise."

He opened the door to the basement and lead the way down the stairs with Lyanna right on his back and Ned a few steps behind. He could tell the Stark boy was nervous.

They reached the bottom. There was a killer silence.

"Surprise," he head his girlfriend say, trying to lighten the mood.

"What the hell, Obe?"

"Lyanna! Hey!" Oberyn admired his sister's enthusiasm as she jumped out of her spot on the couch and wrapped Lyanna in a hug that he was certain was 100% real.

By then, Ned had approached Ashara. "Sorry to crash your thing here. I brought you some flowers." He stared down at his shoes.

"Thanks, Ned!" She kissed his cheek.

"You've got to be kidding me. Obe, why would you think this is okay?"

Lyanna approached Arthur. "We come bearing gifts."

He glanced at the double chocolate chip cookies. "Fine. This just better not become a regular thing."

Oberyn beckoned Lyanna over to where he was sitting. There was really only room for one in the seat and he had originally intended on sitting on the floor beside the chair, allowing his queen to take his throne. Before he could propose the idea, she had already taken a seat on his lap. Her loose, dark hair smelled like strawberries and chocolate. He pulled her back to lie with him on the recliner.

After about five minutes of everyone pretty much only paying attention to their particular companions, Oberyn tried to make the night more inclusive.

"Movie anyone?"

She turned to face him. "Do you have anything funny?"

"Let's see." He moved from under her to the display where all of the movies were kept. "We have Napoleon Dynamite. I'm pretty sure that's it as far as comedy goes, and that's not saying much."

She looked at him like he'd just confessed to murder. "Are you kidding me? That movie is everything that is right in the world."

"Napoleon Dynamite it is then, my lady." He took the movie down and put it into the DVD player.

He hit play and went for another beer. "Anyone need a beer?"

"Beer? You guys are a bunch of pussies. But that'll do." He found her response amusing.

"Ned?"

He looked away from Ashara for what Oberyn was certain was the first time. "No thanks, I'm driving."

When he went to sit back down, Lyanna was sprawled across the entire chair, leaving no room for him.

She showed no indications of moving so he pretended that he was going to sit down on top of her - she never even flinched. Her laughter was a beautiful sound in his ears as he took a seat between her opened legs and laid his head back on her chest. He handed her a beer. Her body was warm.

The movie was only ten minutes in and he was pretty sure that her phone had already vibrated seven times. He wondered who could possibly be texting her so much.

Oberyn quickly glanced at Arthur who was seething in his corner of the couch, Elia's head resting on his shoulder. "Is everything okay with you, bro?"

"Everything is perfect except this a stupid fucking movie and your excitement over inviting the Stark bitch here made you forget to order the pizza."

Lyanna was apparently done taking Arthur's shit. "If you have a problem with me - not just me being here, but me with Oberyn - just fucking say it, asshole." She removed her legs from around him and moved to stand. Oberyn found it to be kind of sexy how her breathing calmed, her eyes narrowed, and her jaw tightened when she was angry. Like an actual wolf about to go in for the kill.

Arthur was clearly on edge, yet he spoke calmly. "Okay. I have a huge problem with you. Maybe Oberyn, Ashara, and even Elia are easy to forgive, but not me. So I'm not just going to sit here while you ruin our movie night and sit there like you didn't screw Elia over."

"Is this seriously happening right now?" She locked her grey gaze on Arthur's intense purple eyes. "Napoleon Dynamite is what set you off?" Oberyn knew that there was no use in trying to calm Lyanna down. "I've been trying so hard to make you like me, but apparently something that happened to me - something that I didn't even want to be a part of - is means enough for you to despise me. Obviously the whole thing worked out in your favor. You should be thanking me."

"Seriously, Obe? You had to choose this one." He gestured toward Lynna who was now standing over him.

Oberyn had always heard the phrase "bro's before ho's" but he had never really been in a situation where he'd even consider choosing a girl over his best friend. But Lyanna was definitely not a ho.

Luckily, she made the decision for him. She was back at the chair. "How about that tour you promised me?" She extended her hand out to help him up.

Oberyn found himself to be more turned on than he was already was after seeing his she-wolf stand up for herself. It was understandable why Arthur was angry, but if Elia was over it, then he obviously should have been too.

Lyanna was gripping his hand so tightly trying to contain herself before she really exploded on Arthur that Oberyn actually felt his circulation cutting off. She practically dragged him up the stairs. They were through the door before she spoke.

"You know that by tour, I really mean your bedroom, right? Take me to your bedroom." She eyed him with obvious desperation.

Oberyn briefly wondered if her explosion back there was really just a show to get him out of the basement.

He led the way up the stairs and to his room. He found himself becoming self conscious as he watched her look around. She shut and locked the door.

She turned to face him. "So are we gonna do this?"

He completely forgot about the situation that had taken place downstairs. Never had he seen a girl make wear simple denim shorts and plain grey t-shirt look so good.

He grabbed her chin and pulled her mouth up for a kiss. As they locked lips, their tongues collided. He turned her around and pushed her down onto his bed. Minutes later, he broke their kiss but never eye contact as he pulled his shirt off in one motion. By the time his shirt hit the floor, he was back on top of her, surely leaving marks on her neck. The tightening in his jeans was becoming hard to ignore.

Lyanna lightly pushed him off of her to be able to remove her own shirt. Her body was just as perfect as he'd remembered. She caught him staring at her chest, prompting her to reach back and unhook her bra. She leaned forward and undid his jeans. Soon, he was naked. He felt vulnerable. Oberyn was certain that she was sizing him up in comparison to Robert Baratheon. He shook those thoughts from his head as he watched her remove both her shorts and underwear in one motion.

He took a condom from his bedside drawer.

"Can I do the honors?" Her voice was dripping with sex.

He handed her the condom and watched as she seductively opened the wrapper with her teeth. She pushed him down onto the bed and slowly rolled the thin plastic down his length. He took a shaky intake of breath at the feeling of her small fingers on his throbbing member.

After a quick peck on his lips, she climbed on top of him and soon he was sheathed by the intense heat inside of her. That was the moment when Oberyn decided that he was in love with Lyanna Stark and nothing else mattered.


	15. Chapter 15

Lyanna

Lyanna wished that she could've stayed in that room forever. Being with Oberyn on that level was better than anything that she had ever experienced.

Walking back down the stairs to the basement, she hoped that Arthur had taken the hour during which they were gone to recollect himself. Of course that was too much to ask for. As they entered, Lyanna heard his audible scoff and caught his eye roll before he turned back to face Elia.

For everyone to hate that movie so much, she found it pretty comical that no one had bothered to turn it off.

Lyanna did her best to avoid eye contact with her brother. When she finally gave in and chanced a look in his direction, he was studying her.

"Lyanna, a word?" She hated when he got all serious.

Oberyn pulled her down onto his lap. "We can talk later, Ned."

"Now."

He headed for the stairs. She heard the front door open and close. Lyanna offered Oberyn a simple shrug and followed.

"Already, Lya?"

"Already what?"

"You two already had sex." She was confused. "After years of my best friend and my sister dating, I've learned all the signs that you've just been fucked. The hair, your skin is glistening, you refuse to look me in the eye. It hasn't even been a week. You need to value yourself more, Lyanna." He punched a nearby tree.

She just sighed. "Neddy, just because you're still a virgin doesn't mean no one else can have sex." She felt bad for the low blow.

"Well normally, I wouldn't care. But seeing as you're talking to Robert again and leading him on, I do." Lower blow.

She spoke in a hushed tone. "That is really none of your business Ned and I'd appreciate if you didn't mention it here. We're going home. Let me say goodbye."

When she arrived back up at the front door, Oberyn was leaning against the doorframe, waiting for her.

"Just wanted to make sure you didn't leave or anything. Ned seemed upset."

"What makes you think he's upset? What'd you hear?" She tried not to seem too defensive.

He cocked an eyebrow but still pulled her close for a hug. He spoke into her ear. "You're acting strange. And just the way he was in the basement. I wanted to make sure everything was okay, beautiful."

"Right. Yeah everything is fine. And tonight was amazing, but we're gonna head home."

"Already? It's only 10."

"I know. I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you tomorrow. I promise."

He winked. "Your place or mine?"

"We should try both in one day." She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down to her level.

"I'd love that, Lyanna." He moved the inch that was between their lips.

Kissing Oberyn was always hard because Lyanna never wanted to stop. She found herself wanting to be back upstairs in his bedroom. A moan escaped her lips. He pulled away.

"We should stop while we're ahead."

"I'll text you, Obe."

"Goodbye, beautiful."

She felt him watching her as she made the walk back to Ned's car.

Once inside, she checked her phone. Ned began driving.

~ Rhaegar is so amazing, L. I can't believe he ever actually thought he wanted anything other than me. - Cersei

~ Do you want to do something tonight? - Robert

~ I don't even know why I asked that.. Of course you don't. - Robert

~ Are you with him right now? - Robert

~ Lya.. You can't only reply when it's convenient to you. Either reply consistently or ignore me completely. - Robert

~ Lyanna. Please. I'm getting worried. - Robert

Each message was about three minutes apart and each one was increasingly desperate.

She felt guilty.

~ I'm sorry. I was distracted. - Lyanna

She turned up the radio to lessen the tension in the car. She hated when Ned got that way - acting like he was only person capable of making good decisions.

Thirty minutes into the ride, Lyanna turned away from the window and faced her brother.

"How'd you even know?"

"That you fucked Oberyn after knowing him for 5 days? I already told you."

"No. About Robert."

He was tightly gripping the steering wheel. "He called me. On the night of the race when you first texted him. He asked for my advice. I told him to leave it alone and to not reply. But then when I saw him today at school, it was pretty obvious that something was making him happy. You've been texting a lot lately. I put the pieces together."

"I'm not leading him on, Ned."

"You dated for two whole years. I know you lost your virginity to him. You're special to him - even though you broke his heart. You're talking to him again and giving him hope that you'll be together again someday."

"Stop acting like you're perfect, Ned." They were home by then, sitting in the driveway. "You fucking knew he was cheating on me, yet you never said anything. I'm your sister and you chose him over me. I forgave you. Stop acting like I owe you something."

"Lyanna-"

She got out of the car but hesitated before closing the door. "I'm not leading him on."

Inside, Lyanna heard noise in the game room. She figured that Benjen had just invited a few friends over to play Mario Party or something. Ignoring the fight she'd just had with Ned, she put on a smile and pretended nothing was wrong before entering.

She observed each person that was in the room. At the end of the line, she dropped her phone. She calmly recollected herself.

"Brandon?" She gestured towards the door.

Brandon knew she was pissed and began defending himself. "He just showed up, Lya. Said he was worried about you."

"Well you knew where I was. And even if he was just checking on me, why is he still here?"

"I didn't know you'd be back so soon. Benjen saw him and asked him to play Xbox and Robert said yes. That was two hours ago. I'm sorry, Lya. Guess we just lost track of time."

She shook her head. "I'll be upstairs."

She went up to her room and closed the door.

~ Don't freak out. Robert's at my house. - Lyanna

She turned on her TV to look for a movie to distract her.

~ On my way. - O

She called him.

"Hello?"

"You are not coming here. Not now."

"Well I don't want him near you."

"He's not. I'm upstairs. He's downstairs with my brothers. I just told you because I didn't want him to try to start anything by bringing it up with you. I didn't want you to find out from anyone other than me."

"Fine. I won't come. But he's obviously there for you, not your brothers."

"Yeah, well my brothers are idiots and couldn't turn him away."

"I just hate that they're okay with him being anywhere near you. After the way he treated you."

There was a knock at her door.

"Look, Obe. I have to go. We'll talk."

She took a deep breathed and opened the door. She already knew who it was.

"What do you want, Robert?"

"Can I come in?"

She simply opened the door wider.

"I was worried, Lya."

"So I've heard."

He seemed nervous. He was chewing on his bottom lip. God she missed those lips.

"What are we doing, Lyanna?"

"We're not doing anything."

"Well that's what I thought. Until you texted me and flirted with me."

"I wasn't flirting, Robert. I was just being nice." She hoped the lie wasn't too obvious. "But I'm dating Oberyn now. I moved on and it's time you do too."

"Wait. Did you two fuck already?"

"Why would you even ask that? It's time for you to leave."

"I'm not just going to standby while the girl I love is with someone else. I'm going to get you back."

"Robert, please leave."

He just watched her. It was like some sort of silent plea.

"Fine. Just know that I'm never giving up on us, Lyanna Stark."

She listened as he stomped down the stairs and slammed her front door.

She wasn't really sure how she felt. Just hours earlier she'd given herself to Oberyn and she knew she felt love for him. But at the same time, she still loved Robert.


	16. Chapter 16

Oberyn

Oberyn had a hard time sleeping that night after getting to know the feeling of having Lyanna's warmth pressed against him.

When she texted him saying that Robert Baratheon was inside of her home, Oberyn was out of his door within seconds. It took her phone call and actually hearing her voice to calm him down.

Oberyn recognized that things were moving at an extremely quick pace within their relationship and, normally, that was the exact thing that he tried to stay away from. With Lyanna, it just seemed right.

Going into that night, he wasn't really sure whether he was going to go through with actually having sex with her. Oberyn had always been praised by all of his partners but there was something about Lyanna that he had found intimidating. It was mostly just that she'd only been with one other person - Robert - and Oberyn was afraid that the love she felt for her ex would overshadow anything he could offer.

The next morning, Oberyn ran into Elia in the kitchen on his way out of the house. He'd thought he'd surprise Lyanna and take her out to breakfast so he had to make sure to get to her before she ate.

"Morning, El." He poured himself a glass of orange juice.

"Good morning, brother. Off to see Lyanna?" She was reading the paper like she did every morning.

"I thought I'd surprise her."

"Well it's great to see you happy. Are you planning on spending the whole day with her?"

"I'm not really sure. It's a possibility. Why?"

"It's just that Arthur feels like he's being replaced. I think he'd greatly appreciate an apology."

Oberyn finished off his glass and placed it in the sink, "If anyone owes anyone apology, it's him to Lyanna. Until that happens, I'm not going to go out of my way to please Arthur when he won't even try to accept Lyanna."

"I understand. I just don't think he will."

Oberyn let it sink in that he was pretty much being forced to choose between Arthur and Lyanna. "Well I have to go now. See ya."

He took the Range Rover and arrived at the Stark's place by 8:40. Upon ringing the doorbell, he was greeted by Lyanna's little brother.

"Hi, Benjen."

"Oberyn! Come in! What are you doing here? It's so early! Are you here for Lyanna?"

He stepped inside. "Yes I'm here for Lyanna. Is she up?"

Ned was leaning against the railing on the stairs. "You're about three hours early for Lyanna. It's the weekend and she generally doesn't leave her bed before noon."

"Oh. Well so much for taking her to breakfast. I wanted it to be a surprise. How upset do you think she'd be if I woke her up?"

"Well if I woke her up, she'd be pissed. But since it's you, it'll probably be fine. But then again, who even knows with her? She's hot and cold when it comes to what she does and doesn't like." There was resentment obvious in his voice.

Oberyn nodded. "Well I'm just gonna go test my luck." He rustled Benjens hair and moved past Ned to head up the stairs.

When he arrived at her door, he was unsure of what to do next. The door was closed so he debated between knocking and just entering. He felt that after how intimate they were the night before, she'd be okay with him inviting himself in. What prevented him from doing that was the fact that she was the only girl in a house full of men. He knocked.

The first five knocks were greeted with silence. He debated calling her phone but he felt that that'd ruin the surprise. He knocked some more. Nothing. He was beginning to think that going there had been a mistake. He raised his fist to try one last time when the door flung open.

"Seriously? Who's fucking knocking?" When she saw him, the anger disappeared from her features. There was surprise, then she appeared to be embarrassed.

She apparently didn't sleep in pants. Lyanna opened her door wearing a basic pair of bikini style panties and a t-shirt that read "Storm's End Stags." Robert's. He'd ask her about it later. For now, he admired the way her hair that she had thrown up into a bun on the top of her head the night before was falling down all around her face. The sleepiness was obvious around her eyes. She looked absolutely stunning.

"Good morning, beautiful."

She hugged him. When he wrapped his arms around her in turn, he lightly brushed the side of her ass cheek with his palm. He'd forgotten that she wasn't wearing any pants. He found himself becoming turned on and tried to shake those thoughts out of his head.

"It's so early, Obe." She was rubbing her eyes. "Come in." She closed the door behind him

"I just thought I'd surprise you. Wanted to take you to breakfast."

"That's really sweet. Although I'm not due to be up for another three hours."

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. We could always delay and make it lunch."

"I like that idea." She took his hand and led him towards her bed.

He watched as she crawled beneath her covers. When she realized that he hadn't followed, Lyanna patted the bed next to her. "Lie down."

He said a silent prayer that her father didn't walk in for anything.

Oberyn found it pretty comical how quickly sleep overtook her. They were laying so that her back was pressed against his front. He had an arm rested over her and she held his hand in hers.

He glanced towards her picture wall to see if there was anything that he hadn't noticed before. He spotted a new one. It had been taken on the night of the latest race. It was after he had beat Robert in the final when Lyanna jumped up into his arms. He smiled a lot bigger than he probably needed to. He'd made the wall.

Against what he'd actually intended, he fell asleep. It wasn't until about two hours later when Brandon stormed into the room that he'd realized he was asleep.

"Martell, what are you doing here?"

"I shouldn't have to explain myself to you, Stark. Not after you let Robert Baratheon near Lyanna."

He felt her stir in his arms. "Brandon, relax. We didn't even do anything." She got out of the bed and headed towards the bathroom. "Not today anyways." She closed the door behind her.

Oberyn looked to Brandon who was still in the room, looking slightly wounded after being confronted about letting his sister's abuser in the house. "We're, uh, going for lunch. If you want to come or anything."

"I already have plans so I'll pass on that one. Just watch yourself, Martell. You're lucky it was me who walked in."

Lyanna peered out of the door to her en suite when she heard her brother leave. "Lock my door and come in."

"Lyanna, your entire family is in this house."

"So. Your family was home. Oberyn, please." She opened the door wide enough so that he could see she was only in a towel. Oberyn was conflicted.

"I'm not giving up until you come in here. The quicker you do, the quicker it'll be over and the less likely we'll be caught." She dropped the towel.

Against his better judgment, Oberyn did as she said and locked the door. He pulled his shirt up over his head and his jeans were off by the time he was in the bathroom, kissing on her neck.

"I need to take a shower," she moaned into his ear.

He pulled away and took off his briefs as Lyanna backed seductively towards the shower. She turned the water on and stepped inside.

Soon, Oberyn had Lyanna pressed against the wall of her shower. Seeing the water trickle down through her hair, then around her perfect breasts to run down her stomach and between her legs almost sent him over the edge. He needed to be inside of her again.

Lyanna's head was resting on the wall, her grey eyes gazing at him through hooded lids. She reached out to guide him towards her when he realized.

"Shit. Lyanna we can't." He took a step back.

"Yes we can." She pulled him closer.

"Do you have any condoms?"

"I'm on birth control. Unless you have some sort of disease you never told me about, we are doing this."

"Lyanna, we just need to be safe about these th-"

She was on her knees in front of him, his cock was in her hot, wet mouth. All previous concerns ceased to exist as her head bobbed up and down along his shaft.

After what felt like mere seconds, though he was sure it was longer, Lyanna paused and looked up at him. "So are you gonna fuck me or should I finish this?"

Oberyn groaned and pulled her up by the hand that she had left resting against his abdomen.

He lifted her up and guided her down onto him. Memories of their first time together the previous night flooded his brain as he came to grips with the fact that Lyanna Stark was his and being with her was becoming a normal thing.

Her arms and legs were both wrapped tight around him as he plunged in and out of her, praying that it'd never have to end. He surprised even himself when he gathered enough self control to pull out and set her down before coming inside of her. He knew that she wasn't afraid of risking it, but he was.

He felt her intense stare on him as the last of his cum spurted out onto the floor of her shower and was washed down the drain. They were both panting.

"You should probably wait out in my room. In case someone comes."

All he could muster was a yes.

Oberyn got dressed and went back out. He observed the collection of books that she had on an antique looking bookshelf that he hadn't noticed the first time he'd been in her room. There were mostly classics - a lot of Dickens. He hadn't realized she was so into reading. He didn't think her the type.

He'd just sat down at her desk with a copy of Crime and Punishment when her phone buzzed on the charger. He tried to resist looking and shook it off thinking it'd probably be that Brienne girl or even Cersei Lannister.

He hadn't meant to, but he looked. The name said Bert. He'd given her the benefit of the doubt, praying that she knew another "Bert". It wasn't until the phone vibrated a second time that he actually read the message.

~ You can't possibly tell me that last night had no affect on you, Lya. We're supposed to be together. I can tell you want it too so stop fighting it. - Robert

Oberyn wasn't sure what exactly had happened last night between his girlfriend and Robert Baratheon. All he knew was that Lyanna had texted him before she went to sleep, assuring him that they hadn't even spoken during Roberts visit - that he hadn't been there for her.

Oberyn left.


	17. Chapter 17

Lyanna

At first, Lyanna was a little bit annoyed by the interruption of her sleep patterns, but after a while of lying there with Oberyn, she decided that she'd take advantage of the situation. Lyanna felt as if their first time would be the hardest. Luckily, she and Oberyn had crossed that bridge the night before. The day had no bounds.

Their second time had been much better than the first in her opinion. Even after he had left the shower and headed back into her bedroom, Lyanna was still living off of the high that was sex with Oberyn Martell. The only bad part about the situation was that, no matter how hard she tried, Lyanna couldn't help but compare the only two guys she had ever been with. Oberyn was more gentle and he always seemed to pay special attention to her needs as well as his own. Robert was pretty much only in it for himself. He was rough and always quick, yet there was still something about it that Lyanna longed for.

Lyanna had just let it sink in that she had a boyfriend who wanted to take her out to breakfast as she finished shaving her legs. She wanted them to be as smooth as possible lest anything else happen between her and Oberyn on that day. She opted to dry off in her room rather than in the bathroom like she had usually done to avoid getting water on the hardwood floors.

Right away, she could tell that something was amiss. Oberyn wasn't waiting for her as he had said he would. Lyanna wrapped her towel around her body and left through her already open room door to try to figure out what happened to her boyfriend.

Her first stop was Brandon's room. She hadn't bothered knocking and simply entered. He wasn't there. Lyanna vaguely remembered him mentioning having something to do. Probably Barbrey.

Next, she reluctantly sought out Ned. He was in his own shower. Normally she would have let him be but this had been important. She knocked before opening his bathroom door a crack. "Ned, I know you're mad at me or whatever, but do you know why Oberyn left? I got out of the shower and he was gone."

"Lya, if you're actually just trying to subtly question whether or not I said something to make him want to leave, the answer is no."

Lyanna just sighed. She hated the way that Ned pretty much always knew what she was thinking.

"I did, however, see him leave. He seemed pretty upset so if it is something that you did and you don't know what, you should probably figure it out and apologize. My guess is that it has something to do with your contact with Robert."

Lyanna had gone from calmly listening to what her brother had to say to the complete opposite. "Last night wasn't even my fault. He was already here! You know that!"

"Yeah well you're the one who led him on to think that the visit was mandated."

"Seriously, Ned. I-"

"I would really appreciate some privacy, Lya."

She gave an audible groanas she shut her brothers door. Arguing with Ned was useless. He always won because he was always right. He was the voice of reason in every situation.

By the time she had gotten back to her own room, her body was completely dry. Lyanna threw on an old, red Westeros Prep t-shirt she had found and a pair of black, ripped jeans that she usually never wore. All of her thoughts were disoriented.

She grabbed her car keys, then her phone to try and actually figure out where he went. Maybe he wasn't even mad at her. Looking at the already lit up screen on her phone from a text (Robert of course) was when she concluded that that had to have been what caused Oberyn to leave. Crime and Punishment on her desk served to prove that theory. Oberyn had seen her phone.

Lyanna called him as she ran down the stairs and out the door without a word to her family. It had gone to his voicemail after the first ring. She decided to leave one. Maybe hearing her voice would soften him up. "Hey, Obe. I was really looking forward to lunch and I'm kind of bummed that you would leave without hearing what I have to say. I'm not really sure where you are but I'm headed to your house now. If you're not there, I'll just wait for you. We will be talking about this. Bye."

She didn't want to seem too intrusive which is why she hadn't texted and had only called once. If what she had predicted was correct, Oberyn would be pissed and she wanted to give him a little time to cool off.

Lyanna's hands were shaking by the time she pulled into the Martell's driveway. After a series of deep breaths, she turned off her engine and got out of the car. Although it was brand new, her relationship was well worth saving.

It was Doran who opened the door. Lyanna had a feeling that Oberyn's older brother hated her. She gave a weak half smile.

"Oberyn is not in."

"Oh. May I wait for him?"

"I suppose. Come in." Doran stepped aside to allow Lyanna to pass.

Once inside, Lyanna headed up the stairs to wait in Oberyn's room. Her hand was on the door handle when Elia pulled her out of her silent state of fear of Oberyn breaking up with her.

"Lyanna! What are you doing here? Obe left this morning saying he was taking you out to breakfast." Elia was sitting cross legged on the bed in her own room, directly across the hall from Oberyn's.

Lyanna headed to Elia's door. "Well yeah. I might've done something bad."

Elia nodded as if she was trying to interpret what she had meant by that.

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

"Honestly, it might just make you hate me again. But I'm desperate for advice right now. I don't know what I'll do if I've actually ruined things between Oberyn and I."

Elia patted the spot on the bed next to her.

Lyanna sat down in what she was pretty sure was the cleanest, most organized room she had ever been in. "I guess I'll just dive right into things." She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "I've been talking to Robert. It's been a month since we broke up and a week almost since I've been talking to Oberyn, but I've still been in contact with Robert. I don't know why I do it. I guess it's just weird when you've talked to someone pretty much every single day for two years and then you just stop. I couldn't stop. But I will. For Oberyn." Lyanna glanced in Elia's direction to try and get a look at her expression. Thoughtful. "He came over this morning. I made him lay down with me and we went back to sleep. We even… Well nevermind. But what I'm trying to say is that we had a phenomenal morning together, but when I got out of the shower he was gone. I think he read a text that I got from Robert that, in retrospect, seems pretty incriminating on my part. I have been texting Robert, but that is all of the contact I've had with him since I began dating your brother. Until last night when he was at my house, uninvited. Even then we spoke for a total of two minutes." Lyanna guessed that Elia probably assumed that she was some heartless bitch for leading on two separate guys and not even feigning tears when she spoke about it. Lyanna was never really one for crying. "I know that things have moved at an insanely fast pace between Oberyn and I, but life is too short for moving slow. I think I love him. It's more intense than anything I ever felt with Robert." Lyanna shrugged. "Quality over quantity I guess. I've never known anyone who is so like me. We just clicked right away. I didn't realize any of this until today when I saw he was gone. If things end between us this quickly I don't know what I'll do."

A throat cleared back in the hallway. Oberyn was at his own door, a stone cold glare on his face.

"You want to talk? Let's talk." He headed into his room without so much as a look back.

Elia gently squeezed Lyanna's shoulder. She assumed it was in support - a sort of "good luck" type of thing. Lyanna appreciated the gesture.

She crossed the hall quickly, trying not to keep him waiting.

"I'm not going to break up with you Lyanna. But please. Explain to me why I shouldn't."

She let out a breath that it felt like she'd been holding for ages. Lyanna took a seat on the bed in front of where he was leaning back against a wall with his arms crossed. She took his hand in hers and began talking.


	18. Chapter 18

Oberyn

Oberyn recognized that his leaving may have been a bit of an overreaction to the situation. Reading Lyanna's messages was out of line. He fully expected her to be at his house by the time he arrived there. He was right.

Oberyn's first destination following his quick departure from the Stark residence was the Dayne's. He needed to speak to Arthur. Arthur was his best friend and Oberyn was beginning to feel ashamed about the way that he disregarded all of his advice.

Telling Arthur about the text that he had seen on Lyanna's phone was one of the hardest things that Oberyn had ever done. He had fallen hard for Lyanna Stark and mentioning her betrayal out loud made it seem that much more real. Of course pretty much all Arthur provided was "I told you so" and "dump the bitch."

Oberyn definitely considered breaking things off with Lyanna before he ended up getting too hurt. But then he remembered the wall. She had added him to her wall of her fondest memories. Also, sleeping there beside her was one of the most calming and enjoyable moments he had ever experienced. Oberyn recognized that although they hadn't even been together for a week, that their good times definitely outweighed the bad. He headed home.

Lyanna's bright red beamer was pretty impossible to miss. Oberyn still wasn't entirely sure what he'd say to her. He wondered if she knew what this was about or if he would have to explain it to her.

Walking up the stairs, he could already hear her speaking. She was so absorbed in her conversation with Elia that neither had noticed when he had arrived. When Lyanna finished her obligatory confession to his sister and not him, Oberyn decided to make his presence known. Lyanna turned to face him with entirely bloodshot eyes. Oberyn hated that this was happening but he felt as if things would never be right between them if they didn't talk about it.

Oberyn was proud of the relief that made it's way across Lyanna's face when he assured her that he wasn't ending things.

And his foul mood dissipated entirely when Lyanna, knowing that Oberyn was upset with her, still had the confidence to take his hand within hers before she began explaining things.

Her eyes were downcast. "First things first, I'm sorry. But also why were you looking at my phone?" Lyanna shook her head. "I'm sorry. Don't answer that." She finally looked him in the eye. "Oberyn. I would hate for what is going on between us to end prematurely. I'm not really one who throws around the word love excessively as I've told you before. But I do love you Oberyn. Our relationship is only in the beginning stages so it makes sense that there are still some kinks that need to be worked out. Robert Baratheon is one of those kinks. For you, I will stop talking to him. I can't promise that I will never see anymore or that I will never receive a text from him, but I can promise that I will never send one to him. For you. Robert was my first love so it has been pretty hard for me to get over him. Just like how Elia had a hard time trying to not care about Rhaegar. You just don't know what it's like, Obe. Please forgive me."

Oberyn sighed and pulled Lyanna up to a standing position in front of him, wrapping his arms around her. "I forgive you, Lyanna. As you stated, I've never been in a relationship before so all I have is you to show me the ropes." He kissed her lips softly and pulled back to smile at her.

Lyanna wiped away the tears that had been clouding her vision and let out a small laugh. "I guess we just experienced our first fight. It was much more calm than I'm used to."

Oberyn nodded and smiled down at her. "Yeah, but you're going to have to stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

"Comparing every aspect of our relationship to your last one."

"Oh. Wow. I'm so sorry."

"It's no problem, beautiful."

Lyanna smiled again and closed the space between their faces for another kiss. Hers was more aggressive than the kiss that Oberyn had given her. Lyanna had him pressed against the wall, her fingers in his short black hair. He needed to have her again but she pulled back "So how about that lunch?"

"You still want to do that?"

She looked at him in a manner that suggested he was an idiot. "Of course I still want to go get food." Lyanna checked her reflection in the mirror that Oberyn had above one of his dressers. "Let's go!"

As he followed Lyanna out of the room, he caught a glimpse of Elia's approving smile from where she still sat on her own bed.

He liked seeing Lyanna happy and it pleased him that her happiness was his doing. On the ride to the diner that he had originally intended on taking her to, Lyanna had let down the windows and was singing along to the pop radio station - the same station that she had told him that she hated on numerous occasions. The sight made Oberyn smile.

Oberyn and Lyanna were pretty much the only people at the diner who were under 60. Oberyn liked that. At least with an older crowd, not everyone would sit there and judge them rather than enjoy their own meals.

Lyanna ordered a burger and fries and Oberyn followed suit and did the same. They ate in relative silence pretty much just enjoying the other's company.

In between bites, Lyanna put down her burger and appeared to be in deep thought. "Oberyn?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you plan on doing after you graduate?"

Now he put down his own burger. "I'm not entirely certain yet. I just want to do whatever feels natural, you know?"

"But you graduate in less than five months. Do you at least know where you're going to school?"

Oberyn figured out what she was getting at. "Are you afraid I'm going to leave you?" When she didn't respond, Oberyn took that as a yes. "Lyanna it's way too soon for you to be worrying about that. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." She didn't look convinced. "Alright?"

She gave the best smile that she could produce. It was obvious that she was still concerned about getting too far into something that would be broken up after Oberyn finished high school.

They went back to eating in silence. The entire meal, their legs had been intertwined beneath the table. Oberyn paid the check and on their way out of the restaurant, they were stopped by an old couple. The lady said, "You two are so adorable. You remind of my Pete here and I back we first starting dating."

Lyanna blushed and seemed at a loss for words but still managed a thank you. Oberyn simply nodded as they continued to walk past.

They were back inside of his truck before either said anything.

"Honestly it scares me."

Oberyn turned to face her, confused. "What scares you, Lyanna?"

"Just the whole concept of being with someone for so long. They were so old and she said that we reminded her of them. They must've been together for what? 50 years? That is insane."

"I guess it's not if you just love someone that much. I suppose neither of our parents are the best examples of lifelong loves, with yours being divorced and mine off traveling the world - seperately of course."

Lyanna shook her head as if trying to gather her thoughts. "I don't know. We've had way too many deep conversations today. What do you want to do next?"

"What is there to do?"

She shrugged.

"Would you like to see a movie?"

"What movies are even out?"

"I'm not sure. But I'm sure we can find a decent action film."

"You had me at 'decent action film'."

Lyanna Stark was unlike any girl that Oberyn had ever known. He believed her when she told him that she loved him plus she was willing to see an action film. The suggestion had originally been a joke, but with Lyanna, he should've known it would be taken seriously.


	19. Chapter 19

Lyanna

Eight weeks had passed since their near breakup and after her close call with Oberyn, Lyanna made the decision to do everything in her power to be the world's greatest girlfriend. The remainder of that weekend had been pretty uneventful following their trip to the movies. Lyanna was pretty sure that Oberyn was watched more of her than the film. But she didn't mind.

The ride to school with her brothers, at one point, was one of Lyanna's favorite part of the day. Now, everytime she said anything, she could feel judgment radiating off of Ned. Lyanna thoroughly regretted ever becoming involved with her brother's best friend. She couldn't help but feel that she had ruined their friendship and her own relationship with her brother in the aftermath. There had obviously been something on Brandon's mind as well. Lyanna just felt as if it was not going to be a good day until they arrived in the school parking lot and she spotted Oberyn waiting for her, standing in the space next to where Brandon usually parked. He opened her door before she even had a chance to.

It had only been a recent discovery of hers, but Lyanna realized that seeing Oberyn's smile was one of her favorite things. He was just as excited to see her as she was to see him. Lyanna felt that it was important that the feelings be mutual within a relationship, rather than one person being head over heels and the other just being completely interested in anything that had a vagina.

Although the day had been going the same way as any other, Lyanna was feeling a bit off but she just couldn't pinpoint why. Dressing out for gym class with Brienne was when it clicked. When she was on her period, Brienne always insisted that they change in the stalls instead of out in the open. Something that they had learned early on in their friendship was that their cycles were almost identical. So when Lyanna began to pull of her uniform skirt while they were still at their locker's, Brienne gave her a questioning look.

Lyanna could feel Brienne watching her, "What's up, Bri?"

"Nothing I guess. I just assumed that you'd know I wanted to change in the stalls today."

Brienne had always been shy about explicitly admitting that she had periods.

Lyanna was confused. "Wait. When did yours start?"

"Friday night." Brienne's face was bright yet and she completely avoided eye contact.

"Oh," She nodded. "Alright. Well let's go then."

She could feel Brienne's eyes boring into her back as she hurried to the claim two stalls for her and her friend. Lyanna quickly closed herself in and tried to think of a rational reason why she didn't get her period on Friday too. It was times like those when Lyanna wished she had been more responsible about keeping tracks of the dates of her cycle. Something that having a mom would have probably helped her with.

She put on a happy face and headed out to meet her friend.

Brienne looked worried. She whispered, "Lya, you don't think you could be..." she glanced around, "pregnant.. Do you?"

Lyanna puzzled through all of her encounters with Oberyn that had taken place within the past month trying to figure out if it was even a possibility. She really didn't want to think about it. "Honestly, I'm not sure."

Lyanna was saved from Brienne's state of being worried but also not knowing what to say by Coach Selmy starting class.

Lyanna found it impossible to even try to think of something besides the possibility of her actually having a baby growing inside of her for the rest of day. She did her best to act normal but she was sure that Oberyn became suspicious when she insisted on riding home with her brothers rather than spending time with him.

The entire ride home was consumed by Lyanna picturing how each individual person in her life would react if she actually was pregnant. Every scenario made her worry even more for Oberyn.

After dinner, Lyanna came up with an excuse to leave the house. She told her father that she and Brienne had made plans to go get ice cream that night.

"Ice cream? Lya, can I come!? Please! I promise I won't embarrass you!"

"I'm sorry, bro. You can come next time." She cursed herself. Of course the mention of ice cream would just raise more suspicions. Everyone knew that Lyanna would never say no to Benjen. She hurried out of the house and into her car.

Turning the corner onto Brienne's street, Lyanna pulled out her phone to call her friend outside.

"Hey. I'm outside of your house. I need you to run somewhere with me real quick."

"Okay. Let me just ask my dad."

"Alright."

Lyanna hung up and Brienne emerged from her house about a minute later flanked by her dad who Lyanna was always convinced didn't really like her too much.

Brienne got into the car. "So where are we headed?"

Lyanna waited until her friend's door was closed before answering. "Drug store."

"Oh," was Brienne's only response.

Lyanna drove for nearly thirty minutes to the one on Yunkai Boulevard in efforts to avoid anyone that may know her father.

Brienne trailed her quietly as Lyanna scoured the store for the isle where they kept the pregnancy tests, determined to not have to ask for help.

The two girl's were clearly out of their league while looking through the massive amounts of different brands and types of tests that were available. They eventually decided that it'd be a good idea to get the ones that they'd seen commercials for.

At the register, it took all of her self control to not snap on the cashier who appeared to be her own age but was clearly judging her for her purchases. She flashed a fake smile after she was done checking them out and Lyanna wanted so badly say something.

Back at the car, she tried to figure out their next move. "Now we just have to find a public restroom."

"We could always just go to a McDonalds."

Lyanna nodded and silently drove.

It took some convincing but Lyanna finally got Brienne to come into in the stall with her. She insisted on facing the door. She was always so embarrassed by Lyanna's not being ashamed to use the bathroom in front of her.

It was hard but not impossible for Lyanna to use four pregnancy tests at the same time. She'd had to go, but had been holding for hours.

Lyanna finished and laid the four tests out on the paper towels that she had placed on the floor ahead of time. "I'm done."

Brienne turned around to face her as Lyanna was washing her hands.

"So how long do we wait?"

Brienne checked the boxes. "For three of them we wait two minutes and for the other one it's three."

Lyanna just sighed. "Okay."

The girls stood in an uncomfortable sort of silence as they waited for the time to pass. Lyanna realized that if the results were positive, her life would be changed forever. She was once again picturing how everyone would react. Her next thought was whether she would keep the baby. And if she did whether she would even be capable of taking care of him. She pictured a baby boy.

It was Brienne who pulled her out of her thoughts. "I think you can look now."

Lyanna took a series of deep breaths. "Just give me a second."

Another minute passed and Lyanna still couldn't gather up the courage to look. "Can you do it for me? Please?"

Brienne moved to do so without complaint. Lyanna watched, leaning against the wall as her friend looked at the four white sticks and compared them all to their boxes. She found it hard to breathe.

The look of discomfort on Brienne's face told her all she needed to know. "Uh, Lya. They're all positive."

Lyanna Stark had never been one for crying in front of others - she felt that it was a sign of weakness. Regardless of that, she found herself moving to hug Brienne into a tight embrace where she completely broke down.


End file.
